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Speedsuit
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Hey guys, is a speed suit worth wearing for time savings? Im doing an olympic soon, as well as an ironman in the fall. I have access to a TYR Torque Pro.
Thanks,
Juan
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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About 3s/100m for me
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know.

It likely is reliant on how fast of a swimmer you are. I'm slow. At my best I may be swimming about a 1:30/100 pace in a full wetsuit. Slower (much) without a wetsuit.

I wore a speedsuit or swimskin over my trisuit at St. Croix quite a few years ago. I doubt it made much difference. Empfield wrote a great article years ago about speed and efficiency. He used some type of aircraft analogy; that for a specific technology to provide a tangible benefit, the person first had to reach a given velocity. I'm not anywhere near there- never have been- so to me it just a matter of making sure I don't have a bunch of floppy wrinkles or pockets that could catch water, then swimming as hard as I can and hoping for the best.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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At my previous jobs, I designed some really cool speedsuits, and I'm happy to share my observations with you.
Unless you race in an ITU style tri suit with no pocket and no pad, the speedsuit will definitely help.
Here are some features of most tri apparel which are nice for bike and run, not so great for swimming:
1. Pad: cushioning on the bike, drag in the water, no matter what the manufacturer says.
2. Pockets: small parachutes or an extra layer of fabric you don't need to pull around with you.
3. Mesh: great for ventilation, terrible in the water.
4. Fabric: anything that wicks also holds water. Again, great for bike and run, not for swim.
5. Zippers in front: excellent for ventilation, slow in the water.
6. Top and bottom (vs tri suit) great when you need porto potty, slow in the swim.
Speedsuits are nice and tight to streamline you in the water, but you'll definitely want to take it off after the swim.
If you can get the suit ahead of time, definitely do some time trials in the pool, long course if you can because you may not want to flip turn in someone else's suit (stretch it out.)
Suit must be tight because a baggy one is almost worse than no suit at all.
Have a great race!
Karen

Karen ST Concierge
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Re: Speedsuit [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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I am about 32-34 for a half IM with a wet-suit and the tri-suit I race in has 1 small pocket in the back. Its a 2XU suit that feels like a second skin. I am leaning towards using the speed suit and will try it out this week to see the difference. Just curious what the masses are doing...thanks again!
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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This is purely N=1

I just bought a swim skin and did a 500 yard TT in the pool. I was 25 seconds faster than my last 500 without the swim skin.

For reference I did the same 500 y TT in my wetsuit and was 45 seconds faster than without wetsuit.

Formerly DrD
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Speedsuit [Thomas Gerlach] [ In reply to ]
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I might be game, let me swim in this borrowed one and see how it goes...
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Speedsuit [oldhagj] [ In reply to ]
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oldhagj wrote:
Hey guys, is a speed suit worth wearing for time savings? Im doing an olympic soon, as well as an ironman in the fall. I have access to a TYR Torque Pro.
Thanks,
Juan

Hi Juan, did you end up getting a speed suit? I am also wondering if I should get one for the Puerto Rico 70.3 in March. I'm used to wearing wetsuits so this will a new experience. I know very little about speed suits.

Any advice on some good brands would be appreciated. I'm a female, slim, and a newer swimmer. I also created a new post on the womens forum asking about speed suits.

Thanks!

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Speedsuit [Herding Cats] [ In reply to ]
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I used one for my race over the weekend. I think it helped roughly 3 seconds/100....I wore a small and I am 5'11 and 150-155 lbs
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