In Reply To:
OK, hear me out. You can't just DQ someone cause they have a water rover label. That's not an objective measure of the rule. If the rule says 5 mm at maximum thickness, someone from USAT has to come out with a set of calipers and measure on the spot and would actually need to do this with any wetsuit worn by EVERY competitor as each individual could easily cut out an old wetsuit and glue in a patch of neoprene approximately 1 square foot in diameter to raise the hips (like a "virtual pull buoy").
To be completely open, I have watched this from a distance. If thicker wetsuits
are allowed by USAT (just like P3's or fast wheels), then the arms race is on, and I don't want to give away free speed to my competition. I have not purchased a Water Rover yet as I want to see how the rules shake out. I have even asked Steve Fleck at Nineteen to make me a prototype, but they won't untill the rules settle down and they may never just because the rest of the world seems to dictate a 5 mm limit (although there is zero enforcement, and I'd argue that there are several suits on the market already over the limit if you take the calipers to the thickest part....). Here in Canada 5mm is the limit, but I don't just race in Canada, in fact, of the races I do in Canada, none are sanctioned by Triathlon Canada, so in theory all the races I am doing aside from Ironman France have no wetsuit thickness limit.
Intellectually speaking, going over 5 mm does not really sit that well with me. But 5mm is also arbitrary. If it was all about keeping heat trapped in for cold water swimming, 3 mm would suffice even for a guy like me at 4.5-6% body fat. If it gets colder, you can always wear a neoprene cap. 5mm itself is exclusively there for flotation. If we were being honest about how much wetsuit thickness is needed, 2-3 mm would take care of things, minimize flotation while keeping in enough body heat. In fact, I'd like a 2-3 mm suit for open water training so that I can have enough heat trapped in, but also do something more in line with a proper swim than riding high up on the water like with a 5 mm suit.
Coupla things.
- WTC has always operated on modified USAT rules. So the idea that WTC cannot/could not make exceptions to any USAT rule they wanted is ridiculous. They make exceptions to the CPSC rule in Kona (only) for helmets. They make exceptions at every race for how pros race (no stagger). So WTC rules are NOT the same as USAT rules, even for USAT sanctioned races. WTC is allowed to make changes that they feel are in the best interest in their race. Ultimately, the USAT rules are about insurance. Something like setting 5mm for wetsuits won't change insurance for the race, so WTC is free to make that change.
- For Dev, I'm not *sure* that 5mm is arbitrary. There are USAT rules, AFAIK, about how cold the water can be before you have to cancel the swim. 5mm may be considered adequate by wetsuit manufacturers (for example from diving) to safely prevent hypothermia, etc. at the coldest possible temperature. I.e., you may not need a 5mm suit most days, but some folks may very well need it for a race like Alcatraz, Auburn, etc. I'm not sure about this, but I know wetsuit manufacturing way outdates triathlon's use of wetsuits, and I'm sure there are some thickness-temperature guidelines.
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