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Swim skin or not!
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Im racing my first ironman next month. Trying to decide swim skin or not? And if swim skin what type? I appreciate any advice to calm this newbies nerves!
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Re: Swim skin or not! [Mandyleado] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, they are anywhere from :01-:05/100m faster than no swim skin. Depends a bit on your race kit of course. The more pockets you have and the looser your kit the more a swim skin will help.

Any of the big names are fine. Kiwami, Roka, B70, TYR etc. Get the one that fits the best if you can try multiple on.

They should be tight & compressive but allow for full ROM.

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

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Re: Swim skin or not! [Mandyleado] [ In reply to ]
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I agree with desert dude. A swim skin is can be very beneficial in non-wetsuit swims. In addition to trying on several if you can, my advice is to not get discourage when you actually see the swim skin you think is in your size. They look ridiculously small but they will stretch once you get them on. I will never forget opening my ROKA package and thinking there is now way this is going to fit but it did.
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Re: Swim skin or not! [instigator] [ In reply to ]
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I am thinking of wearing one in Chattanooga this week. I hear that the back zip can be hard to undo. What is your experience? Can you get a volunteer to unzip?
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Re: Swim skin or not! [niagirl] [ In reply to ]
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My roka has a breakaway zipper (I think that's what it is called). You don't need to pull a cord like on a traditional wetsuit. All you need to do is lift the zipper pull up and tug. Moving the zipper tag to the up position (think on if it was a light switch) unlocks the zipper so you can pull it open. I never had it open during a race so this system seems to work well. And it's always been easy to get it open in transition. I have more issues pulling the thing over my hips than getting the zipper started. These things fit tight (but it's never called chafing with normal body glide application).
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