Sleeves are faster. I don't get why people buy sleeveless wetsuits.

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Sleeveless get more shoulder mobility. Typically better for more advanced swimmers or someone that is top heavy.

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Strava

Why are they faster?
Let too much water in?

Skin is slow.

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

If you have a place handy that rents wetsuits, I'd try out a couple of different sleeved vs sleeveless. Last time I bought a wetsuit (which was admittedly a really long time ago) the sleeveless definitely suited me better. The newer sleeved suits are probably better.

Last time I tried a sleeved suit I was slower than in my sleeveless due to shoulder fatigue.

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Even shaved?
With that in mind, my wetsuit arms only go just below my elbow. Might need longer arms!

I would suggest a sleeved wetsuit unless you are one of the people that have an upper body like the Under Armour manikin at the sporting good stores. If your upper body does look like that, get a sleeveless, you will waste more energy and send your heart rate sky high trying to swim in a sleeved suit and likely swim slower than a sleeveless.

A sleeved one will take a little getting use to, but will be the faster option.

Shaved is fast, but the SCS coating on smoothskin neoprene has a lower drag coefficient (aka faster). The neoprene also helps to give you a little more buoyancy in the reach/ glide phase of your stroke.

A full sleeve suit's sleeves should come down within 1-2 inches of your wrist.

A sleeveless suit is better for some, but for most a proper fitting full sleeve is the fastest option.

jake

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Get outside!

Agree....a high quality, proper fitting sleeved wetsuit is your fastest option.

Yeh they don’t on me as no one makes a suit which fits my short body and long arms and legs

alright thanks guys,

for some background ive been swimming for a while, my normal pace for 2000 yards non stop is about 1:10-1:15/100yd.

i will most likely find some place local and test each suit out and pick the one that feels more comfortable

Full sleeve = faster

Make sure you get the right size. Don't go to big, too small. Too baggy = bad. Too small = can't wear it or limited mobility in the arms.
SNUG up the crotch to make sure you get enough room in the shoulders to swim.
Proper fit = the arms allow you to reach without pulling you back = energy suck.

Sleeveless has water catching at the arm holes.
No buoyancy for the arms.
No neoprene streamline for your arms entering the water.

I gained 4 minutes from IMLF last year in the ocean with a full sleeve over IMTX in a pond sleeveless. If minutes count, it's the better option to go full.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
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I've seen this again and again. Back in the day when wetsuits were less flexible it was a legit question. But as even lower end suits are pretty awesome now of days sleeves are just generally faster. The exception would be a very advanced Div 1 type college swimmer because they have such a refined stroke.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

I have a sleeved suit and have only worn a sleeved suit. I do wonder about sleeveless however. I have seen many comments like this that the wet-suit material has less drag than skin. For the purposes of my comments/questions lets take that as true... Skin is slow, wet-suit material is faster...

First, Is that a good thing on your arms? I want as much grip on the water as possible during the catch and pull phase of my stroke. When swimming, we try very hard to get in a position to decrease resistance for everything except the catch and the pull, where we should be increasing the resistance as much as possible to pull more water. I wonder how having a slipperier material on the forearm effects this...

Second, When I swim in my wetsuit, I absolutely loose feel for the water. I have wondered if I would prefer a sleeveless suit so that I can still feel the water with my arm. The flip-side of that however is, does the wetsuit increase the surface area of my paddle materially enough to provide benefit?

Thanks for the reply. For what you said about D1 type swimmers, are you saying it is faster for them to wear sleeveless?

The grammar police have sent you to the penalty tent and therefore, everyone has ignored any substance to your post.

This thread should have stopped here :)

Except when they are slower, which for me is about any water temperature over 72. Any speed gains from the sleeves are more than offset by the overheating they will cause. YMMV.

I'm not arguing your point that full sleeves are faster (if you aren't overheating) but I think it is an error to ascribe the 4 mins savings between your two races to strictly the wetsuit. I would argue that the vast majority of that 4 minutes is due to the buoyancy of salt water compared to the fresh water swim at Texas.

I think it would be more accurate to say that they should test both. I don't think anyone can definitively say that which would be faster in that scenario.

Sleeveless is slower than sleeved due to the fact that with 2mm thick sleeves you are adding 4mm to the thickness of the cross-section of your arm, and it is true that sleeved offers a little more buoyancy due to the added rubber. So imagine a wetsuit with sleeves that are 5mm thick! We are the only company that makes one.
https://www.desotosport.com/...concept-5-pullover-1

Combine this with the First Bibjohn for the ultimate in speed, buoyancy and comfort.

https://www.desotosport.com/collections/first-wave

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

Increased diameter of the pulling lever causing increased lift (not "lift" as in bouyancy) causing increased speed. Exactly correct and very clever of you. I didn't know about your suits. Would it be better still if your suits were thicker between elbow and wrist as that is the part that is "fixed " in the water. The arm between elbow and shoulder moves forward in the water during the pull creating drag and that part should be thin and slippery. All assuming some variation of a high elbow or more correctly a vertical forearm technique during the pull phase. The extra bouyancy in the arm of a sleeved suit is not the reason it's a faster option.

Thanks for your confirmation, it means a lot. In response to some of your comments, our sleeves ARE THICKER BETWEEN THE ELBOW AND THE WRIST! They are 5mn from the bicep line to the wrist! From the bicep line to the shoulders it is 2mm and, yes, slippery.

Our tests and customer comments confirm that when we suggest to swim with more of a "catch-up" stroke, where remains extended while extended while the opposing arm is in that high-elbow pull phase, the subjects swim faster as a result of that added buoyancy. We call this "the final frontier" of where with proper training and patience, one will reap more speed due to these thicker sleeves.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

I try and draft 100% on the swim, so my times are often determined by how fast the top 10 guys are swimming.

I'm FOP have gone from sleeved to sleeveless and if anything times are quicker. I have better shoulder mobility and stroke rate is higher with a sleeveless which makes up for the lack of buoyancy. In a pool sleeved is faster than sleeveless, Brenton Ford did a 400m test, bathers, sleeved and sleeveless. The Sleeved beating the sleeveless by 11 secs. Which equates to close to a minute for a 70.3, a fair amount. But this is a pro, with perfect technique, in a pool, no drafting, no-one else. Real world you'll never get those time savings. I have just switched back to sleeved with an Xterra Vengance, it swims like a sleeveless, very thin arms, not as buoyant as most sleeved wetsuits, but goes well. I can feel it's quicker than my sleeveless, but as I said, it's immaterial when I'm planning on drafting for most/all the swim.

I think type of wetsuit depends on the swimmer.