The rule of thumb is that sleeves are always faster ... except when they are not. I.e., if you burning up in a full wetsuit in marginally legal water, then what's the point?

Do a search on this forum and you will find previous discussions on this issue.....one back in July 2012. There is a reason why you will see the vast majority of pros wearing full sleeved. You don't say what distance you normally race so if you are doing half and fulls in water on the warmer side and tend to heat up, you might prefer the non-sleeved. I wear full sleeved and usually top 3 out of water but mostly do OLY distance so don't have any potential over heating issues. Don't worry about getting it off in transition.....you'll be doing the top half regardless while running to bike. Good luck.

I did a quick search and didn't see anything. Must have been searching on the wrong key words. I'll take a look at this threads as well.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...!_P3490156/#p3490156

I could've sworn I searched almost that exact title. Thanks for the link.

The only time you'd ever want to consider sleeveless is if the water temperature is close to wetsuit illegal. Wearing a full in 75F water could lead to overheating which would probably slow you down more. Otherwise sleeved is faster.

My 2 cents. I have both full and Sleeveless. They are both inexpensive Xterra and I wear the sleeveless anytime I can because I'm faster in it. My full model is a little restrictive to my arm motion because the underarm panels are not as flexible as the higher end models are. So take that into account when making your decision and purchase. If I was going higher end model, I would get the full, for me I purchased two for half what a high end model would cost and I only race a few times a year.

I believe some of the pricier sleeved wetsuits have better flexibility in the shoulders since that's a big complaint. A proper fit is certainly a factor as well. I started with a zoot force 1.0 sleeveless which fit well. At the beginning of this year I purchased a zoot force 1.0 full sleeve figuring the fit would be basically the same. And for me it was. And I don't feel like I have any major constriction in the shoulders that really tires them out during a swim. I really don't feel like it takes very long to get off either.

Sleeved is faster, Brenton Ford did a test and was 7s faster in a sleeved wetsuit over 400m, so 30s in a 70.3. But a pro, with spot on technique, swimming in a pool is very different to an age grouper swimming in the ocean, so unlikely they will experience anything close to a 30s improvement. I have a sleeved and sleeveless, I prefer the latter and suspect that I swim slightly quicker in it. It's hard to determine, I've done Mandurah 70.3 4 times and Busselton 70.3 3 times, swim times vary every year depending on weather conditions, my fitness and whether the course was marked out correctly. Last year it was 1800m the year before it was 2200m, so impossible to look at times and occasions when different wetsuits were used and compared. I don't find my sleeved restrictive, but I do find my sleeveless more comfortable and I naturally adopt a faster stroke rate with it. It's much quicker to get off as well, further negating any time discrepancies between the two. So for me, there is no difference in performance, if anything the sleeveless is quicker.

All good points. I'm a slow swimmer so probably not a huge difference performance wise for me. I do like the warmth of the full sleeve.

I've always thought that any benefits a wetsuit will give have a higher relative performance impact for a poor swimmer vs a great swimmer? Is this not so?

I got a new suit a few years ago aND went sleeveless. Main reasons were because of the movement and the feel of the wetsuit. I felt restricted In the long sleeved. I live in chicago and race around here so we do get some cold water early in the season but i never had a problem in it. Overall I think it's preference on what you prefer. Also I am sure it different everywhere but I usually find a better price on the sleeveless suits. I found that locAL sales are the best because no one wants the them. I think I saved like 150 on my last one.

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2020 Team Zoot MTN

I mean not a huge performance difference for me between full sleeve and sleeveless. And yes as a poor swimmer I probably benefit more from a wetsuit compared to a great swimmer.