I honestly can just jump in my wetsuit on raceday and go, no big difference. Bigger issue for me is sighting. Especially during warm-up and during long sets, practice your sighting pattern to get comfortable with it. If you can do it well in a pool, the added buoyancy of a wetsuit makes it even easier.

The few times I tried pool swimming in a wetsuit, I was dying from overheating too. I eventually got comfortable from racing a lot. If you still struggle w/ it, Id try a portion of your pool swim in it and then take it off for the remainder. Frequency is probably better in getting used to it and in figuring out how to get it off faster.

+1 on the sighting comment. I practice sighting in nearly all pool swims during WU or cool down. That has helped a lot!

Just out of curiosity, how do you practice your sighting in a pool? I'll admit, I struggle with sighting in competition, but I've only really tried to deal with it by doing more open water swims. That's hard because I live in a cold climate. Is there anything in particular you do in the pool?

[quote]any tips you can provide on how to prepare for IM wetsuit swim, when during the year you regularly swim without wetsuit. [/quote]

#1 thing you can do, even above training in your suit is come race day make sure you put the wetsuit on properly.

can not tell you the number of people who don't know how to put on a wetsuit properly.

once you get the suit on you have to work the suit up pulling excess material into the shoulders.
bend over at the waist, if you see any rolls that's excess material that needs to be pulled up to the tops of your shoulders.
The sleeves should end a few inches above the wrists on many suits not at the wrists. If it's tight in your armpits then pull more of the wetsuit into the shoulder area.
A plastic bag to help it slide on over your feet/hands and some latex coated gloves to help pull the suit up will go a long way to getting it fitting right

---

Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Mostly i just sight every 2-3 breaths and get
a look at the end of the pool. It's about practicing limiting how high i lift my head up and making it a smooth motion.