Body glide under the pits and the shoulder straps; I also sized smaller but didn't have any issues.

Last time I wore it was Kona 2015 and then we couldn't wear sleeves in the water. Rolling my trisuit down was fine, and I had it over my shoulders and on my arms before I reached the change tent on the pier.

To get your tri suit on easily, just make sure you can get both arms into it first, get the sleeves to the proper place, and then just use a rolling motion with your shoulders and voila it should pop on. DON'T try to get the swimskin OFF until you zip the tri suit...otherwise you're gonna get naked! :) But as long as your tri suit is zipped, you can pull the swimskin off with quite a bit of force and it's fast and easy. For me, that is still better than having sleeves on in the water unless the tri suit is specifically designed to do that and you've tried it. My LG m-2 suit...I think it would be slower to swim with sleeves than to pull it over my chest as I described above.

When I tested it last year in a 50 metre pool I found the following time differences. (approximately, not on the same day, and moderate intensity...PR 3800M with wetsuit is 52 minutes in the ocean )

1. ordinary square speedo suit 3800m 59 minutes
2. Roka swimskin 3800m 57 minutes
3. Roka wet suit 54 minutes

Swam 59 in Kona getting the s*** kicked out of me the whole way! A treasured memory! Awesome luck as you build for the big island!

Thanks, I actually have a top not a suit, so I can even leave it in the transition bag. I think I will give it a go next weekend to see how it feels when swimming.

Is the swim really that bad? I am anticipating something worse than "normal" since I am also typically towards the front and haven't really had any issues with space or being kicked at.

Build is going really well, actually so good so far that I am a bit bummed I have to travel 30h and race in a heat jet lagged rather than do a fast race like IM barcelona closer to home and see if I could go something close to 9h....I am sure in the end Kona experience will be worth more, so not so serious about this.

Yes.

Keep in mind that even though you may be a FOP swimmer at most races and thus are able to avoid the scrum, nearly everyone at Kona is a FOP swimmer. Thus, everyone is in the scrum unless you're a low to mid-50's swimmer. If you can swim that fast you should be able to get clear.

Conversely, if you're not usually a FOP swimmer I found Kona to actually be a nicer swim than usual. My IM swim have averaged around 1:05 which actually gets me fairly clear water for the most part. However, at Kona, I lined up on the outside left, second row and beyond the first 10 seconds was never touched during both of my Kona swims. Very pleasant swim for me.

Keep in mind that even though you may be a FOP swimmer at most races and thus are able to avoid the scrum, nearly everyone at Kona is a FOP swimmer. Thus, everyone is in the scrum unless you're a low to mid-50's swimmer. If you can swim that fast you should be able to get clear.



Yes, I realize this and unfortunately dont think I am nearly fast enough to get away.

Might be actually worth to intentionally swim slower, but unfortunately I dont think I could do that even when it really doesnt matter and I will most likely end up somewhere middle of the pack in the whole range and 5 minutes here or there should not be a big deal.

The Roka Viper Pro swimskin does not get wet; it repels the water...so it doesn't really stretch out. Use body glide in the typical areas that rub but also where there are seams on your other suit/top/bottom as those seams get compressed into your skin from the swimskin's tight fit. The Viper Pro does not have a lanyard to zip yourself up...so you will need help. It also has a breakaway zipper and no mechanism to keep it zipped up...so make sure you get it zipped all the way up AND move around in it a lot to see if the zipper stays all the way up before getting into the water. Super ez to take off.
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Thanks, good tips

Tried it out today, pretty slick thing, certainly gives few seconds per 100m, really enjoyed swimming in it.

I think the zipper locks when the handle pointed down and unlocks by pointing it up, anyway good to check because no way to zip-it yourself if it were to come loose.

this is correct

For my open water ocean race I did a couple of things, besides dosing with a few gels beforehand:

Silicone on the suit (I just use Armour All - stuff for car interiors)
And I coated legs, shoulders, neck arms etc. in petroleum gel (Vaseline).

It was like swimming in greased lightning - smooth and fast from the start.

The reason I did that was to delay salt water absorption into the skin, which for me causes cramps in my legs. It worked great.

I noticed many of the Oly 10K swimmers are lathered up as well, sheening in the sunlight.

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I don't like the idea of not having the top up. For me and my body type + I want the suit to be tight and wrestling with a wet suit just is an opportunity to rip it completely. With that being said, definitely some body glide under the pits and around the backside to help with chafing. The suit will save you 40-80 seconds at Kona.

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