Everyone benefits. If you care about your time then get one, if not then don't.

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Of course I care about my time. Was trying to quantify it but thanks.

I've just bought one, not got it yet though. I've read a few articles and forum stuff and it seems that not everyone benefits. I could imagine someone with poor technique and body position isn't really going to improve much with a swimskin as it doesn't give you any buoyancy, like a wetsuit does. There's a few youtube videos that age groupers have made, comparing times with and without swimskins, some reporting zero benefit.

My training partner has one. She won hers, I don't remember how, but I will say she swims faster with it. It does offer some buouncy, not a lot, but enough that I noticed. Plus, if nothing else, it makes you look fast :D

Get a suit that fits tight. Just above your threshold for comfort when it's on out of the water. The suits are designed to be tight. Not restrict your breathing tight, but tight.

A safe bet is somewhere between 2-5 seconds per 100m. Depends on your stroke and a few other specifcs. Some will see less, some could see more. The benefit is in the hydrodynamic property of the textile, it's coating, and the mildly compressive nature of the textile.

Definitely worth the investment if you are looking for ways to keep some of that speed benefit found in a wetsuit.

Jake

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Get outside!

I have used several different brands of swim skins. For me, I get 2-4 secs per 100 faster. By comparison, for a wetsuit, I get 5-7 seconds per 100.
One other benefit of a swim skin is that you can wear it over your "not-so-hydrodynamic" race kit, thus helping eliminate the drag caused by pockets or loose areas on your race kit. You just strip the swim skin off after the swim and voila you are already in your race kit and ready to go!

That's better benefit than I would have guessed. Any ones you liked better than the others?

The Blue Seventy "non-textile" is the fastest one I have. It has a slick coating and is not legal for WTC-sanctioned races (Ironman-branded races) but I think it is still legal for other USAT races. It is also the most comfortable one that I have used.
I have owned the Blue Seventy "textile" suit and currently own Roka's textile suit (both are legal for Ironman-branded races) and the Roka is a bit faster for me. I have tested some other brands that are textile, but they were not as fast for me as the Blue Seventy or the Roka. Finally, DeSoto has a trisuit (complete with tripod in the crotch) that is textile and can be used as your complete race outfit, and it is about as fast as the Roka. The tri-pad takes some getting used to when you swim, but it is surprisingly fast.
Hope this helps.

how much of a difference is there between a swim skin and itu legal suit? do they really offer that much more performance over a tight fitting itu type suit?

I am about 30 years too old and 30 minutes too slow to be an ITU guy, so I wouldn't know. LOL

That does help...thx

http://www.slowtwitch.com/...orque_2012_3183.html

I did a whole bunch of swim skin tests on different brands here, but for the life of me I can only find this one. Perhaps someone else can locate them, but of course they are nearly 5 years old now. But the gist is the same as materials have not changed that much or the reason they are faster(compression). And this one article I wrote was the fastest of the bunch, I believe just because of the coating that was on the outside, not sure if it is allowed anymore.

And although you have been told in this thread they can float, they do not. Unless the rules have changed, they pretty much could not float a silver dollar if completely drenched. So get one that seems too tight but you can still get it on. Make allowance if you are going to wear a race kit underneath though, probably a 1/2 size larger..

One thing I got to thinking about after I made my reply on the swim skins is this: If your legs typically sink when you don't wear a wetsuit, the gains you make from the swim skins is not going to help near as much as what you may see when you don that wetsuit with all the neoprene holding up your legs. The swim skins reduce drag and give you compression, but they don't "float your legs" like a wetsuit.
So a guy like Monty who already has a good body position in the water is still going to see a nice gain with a swim skin, because he doesn't need to get extra flotation on his legs. But if you always rely on a wetsuit to get your legs up in the water (or you always use a pull buoy when you swim in the pool), the swim skin may not help as much. Just my speculation.

My experience as a poor swimmer:
I am about 12s faster on 100m with a wetsuit compared to a speedo, so am not a good swimmer.
I recently bought a swimskin and am about 4s per 100m faster with it compared to a speedo, which is still quite considerable.

I just went through this as I am doing my first non wetsuit swim. and it will likely be one of the only ones I do so was a hard choice but I feel as though I have my best shot to qualify so im not taking any chances. I tried it out in the pool and it was a noticeable difference I was pleasantly surprised I am a 1:15 / 100 swimmer. I did however go for a cheaper option found a coupon for swim outlet and only went with the 2nd lowest roka option.

What distance swimming are we talking about......sprint, full ironman or in between?

Sprint, oly, half

Then, yes, agree with several others here.....it's worth the investment, especially if you are trying to podium.