I don't have any numbers for you, but if you're a good swimmer then you'll probably lose more time taking the swimskin off that you'll gain in the water on a 700m swim.

Perhaps somebody with more experience can contribute on specifics?

One option is for you to rent one just for this race and then decide, based on your experience with it, whether or not to purchase one in the future.

A swim skin is way faster than anything not specifically designed for swimming. 700M you will probably save 28-42 seconds vs a Kiwami Spider. And you will feel better in the water too.

Is there a particular swimskin that takes longer than 5 seconds to take off? Even the best swimmers will see a benefit wearing a properly fit speedsuit/ swimskin. The hydrodynamic properties of the tightly woven fibers are excellent and reduce drag considerably.

I can't say against any specific one piece, but as AJ mentioned, if the suit was not designed to be fast in the water, it may not have the construction that provides you the fastest surface for water to run over.

jake

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Get outside!

In fact the best swimmers will see MORE benefit. The faster you swim the more difference it makes.

Another consideration is that if you opt for a 1 piece tri kit vs a swim-skin + two piece tri kit it reduce options for the rest of the race. If it gets really hot you can't do much wearing a 1 piece (vs a two piece where you can take the top off or at least get a little more ventilation with the break at your waistline).

My guess is if you are used to getting out of a wetsuit, you won't have to spend much time practicing getting out of a swim skin.

I don't think that is true though I have no data on it.

Pretty basic aero/hydrodynamics. The amount of drag a body experiences is proportional to the speed of the body. So the effect drag reduction (a speed skin) has is also directly proportional to the speed of the body. So a faster swimmer sees more benefit from a speed skin the same way a faster cyclist sees more benefit from an aerodynamic bike.

In the bike example; the faster cyclist sees a bigger % benefit, the slower cyclist sees a greater time benefit.

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That isn't 100% true and it has to do with the fact that drag is not linear with velocity but rather goes up as a function of the velocity squared. As such, it is not a 1 to 1 trade off like you suggested. Going faster will get you a much larger % benefit and approximately equal time savings:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-7g1kqYJAY


Speed has a very dominate effect on drag and this explains why drafting is such a big deal in cycling and has very little effect in running (because you are going so much slower running) even though you actual have a larger front-facing area when you run. It becomes relevant in swimming also because the density of the fluid (water vs air) is so muc higher.

hmm...
did you try swimming in the Spider WS1? I'd love to see where you get those numbers.

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I swam IMTX in my WS1 and I thought it felt pretty darn awesome. I didn't do a good job of pulling it up around the neck so that was a problem the first little bit until I got it fixed by taking a short pause in a couple of strokes to hike it up.

I felt I was at no disadvantage to the group I swam with who all add swim skins, I had the added benefit of having a blazing transition.

I'm interested to hear where those numbers are coming from. It makes sense to me that a swim skin would be slightly faster than something like a Kiwami Spider, but would it really be 5s/100m faster? That seems like a stretch. I've also wondered why none of the ITU guys wear swim skins? Is it against the ITU rules? Or is it that their kits are just about as good as swim skins?

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@KellyNCollier

For sprints and Olys I were the swimskin for the entire race. I will wear really thin tri shorts under the swim sking and no tri top. This has worked great for me. I get the advantage of the skin in the pool, I don't have to worry about losing time taking the swimskin off and I find it comfortable for the whole race.

My worry with that is the relative fragility of swim skins. Seems like running and riding in them would do a number on their already relatively short life span.

I had the same worry at first but I have been doing this for the past three years and haven't notice any wear or breakdown of the fabric. It still fits very tightly.

Friday July 11, 2014

6 x 300's on 4:15
1-3 TYR Carbon: AVG 3:52.3 1:17.4 / 100M
4-6 ROKA Viper (put on over Carbon): AVG 3:41.0 1:13.6 / 100M

I am assuming that the OP isn't swimming at 1:14/100M hence the 4 seconds+. BUT I don't want to be right, I want to be fast. Tell me why it is faster than the Carbon. I'll buy one gladly if you convince me. And really I might buy one anyhow because my Carbon is branded to my old team...

i see: you didn't test the Spider. would be fair to acknowledge it first.
Then, when you swam with your skinsuit in the pool, were you wearing a padded tri shorts + front zip tri top under it? Or do you suggest one should do the swim leg in a speedo + skinsuit and put the tri gear in T1?
I'm just thinking the OP is talking about his options for a sprint and not a pool swim.

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But wait, swimming in a swim skin and Roka shorts are very different. I'd totally expect that kind of difference in times with the buoyancy of the Roka shorts. The question is an ITU style fast 1pc tri suit (like the TYR carbon or Kiwami Spider) VS a non buoyant textile swim skin, like a Roka Viper, Blueseventy PZTX. I doubt there would be as big of a difference as there was with the Roka Sim.

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@KellyNCollier

Orca RS 1 Dream Kona is a sort of a Swimskin Trisuit where you can race with... i used it recently as a swimskin as i had a trisuite with arms and it worked very well ...

That was a mistype. It was with a viper not sim. I have owned a sim but lost in about two years ago.

I currently have a Roka Viper Elite, assuming both are correctly fitting is the Spider WS1 faster in the water?

I am just finishing a review if ITU style suits vs a couple traditional suits. One of the glaring differences is water absorption, or lack thereof. Swimskins are a step further with even more compression for streamlining.

Comparing types are a bit difficult to do between these suits as the differences are small. But the differences between a suit like the spider/008/oSuit i find is measurable vs non ITU style suits.

When you evaluate time loss to remove a swimskin vs no transition period it can be significant in shorter races. Also, there is no water absorption carry over for other legs.

Without testing for yourself these style suits, you might not realize their degree of water speed.

Personally, Oly distance or under it would be an easy. 70.3 I'd probably Evaluate it a bit closer looking at cost vs time savings. Ironman, I can see why so many wear swimskins (especially due to long sleeve trisuits that act as sponges in the water)

Ok then, that answers my question. Great test!

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@KellyNCollier

I'm a bit sick right now, but once I get over my cold I'll repeat the wetsuit testing that I did, but I'll perform it using a Kiwami Spider WS1 and a Kiwami Amphibian 008.

Hopefully by the end of next week I'll post something.

Very wrong. Look at ITU and get your facts. There are suits that blur that line.