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Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim?
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We all know if the swim is wetsuit legal it's faster to swim a wetsuit. And that a sleeved wetsuit will be signficantly faster than a sleeveless. That said, has anyone had any luck staying cool on those borderline, but wetsuit legal swims? Texas will likely be just under the wetsuit threshold for pros and I know that around 70 I still get pretty warm. Would simply putting some ice in the core of the suit be effective? Anyone tried anything else?

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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Once or twice during the swim, pull down around the front of the neckline to allow for fresh water to seep in.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Now this is just rubbing salt in the wound.
The water temp here isn't much above the point where an ice axe is needed to get in !
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Wear a thinner swim cap... or just wear one if you normally wear 2 for the 'goggle sandwich'. A friend of mine kicks the whole squad's ass regularly in the swim leg, and she only owns a sleeveless wetsuit.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry but I think this is an oxymoron. The purpose of a wetsuit is to keep you warm, so unless it is wetsuit-MANDATORY (in which hypothermia is a real concern) you should ditch it if you think it's not cold enough.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [miklcct] [ In reply to ]
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miklcct wrote:
Sorry but I think this is an oxymoron. The purpose of a wetsuit is to keep you warm, so unless it is wetsuit-MANDATORY (in which hypothermia is a real concern) you should ditch it if you think it's not cold enough.
Eh. Overheating might cost me 1-2sec/100m. A wetsuit will save 6-7sec, especially in potentially choppy waters. That's a tradeoff I'll take.

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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
miklcct wrote:
Sorry but I think this is an oxymoron. The purpose of a wetsuit is to keep you warm, so unless it is wetsuit-MANDATORY (in which hypothermia is a real concern) you should ditch it if you think it's not cold enough.

Eh. Overheating might cost me 1-2sec/100m. A wetsuit will save 6-7sec, especially in potentially choppy waters. That's a tradeoff I'll take.

Really? I'm tempted to try one out in the winter after I move to the UK. (I have never used in a wetsuit in my current country because it's seldom under 16°C in the water)
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [miklcct] [ In reply to ]
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I don’t think sleeveless are “significantly” slower. Maybe a little, but they also are slightly easier to take off
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
We all know if the swim is wetsuit legal it's faster to swim a wetsuit. And that a sleeved wetsuit will be signficantly faster than a sleeveless. That said, has anyone had any luck staying cool on those borderline, but wetsuit legal swims? Texas will likely be just under the wetsuit threshold for pros and I know that around 70 I still get pretty warm. Would simply putting some ice in the core of the suit be effective? Anyone tried anything else?

You might feel warm, but it's unlikely your core will heat up much.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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April fools?

If real, go sleeveless. If joking, you got some people duped that putting ice in your suit before swimming would help!
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [littlefoot] [ In reply to ]
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littlefoot wrote:
April fools?

If real, go sleeveless. If joking, you got some people duped that putting ice in your suit before swimming would help!
Lol, not a joke. Just the first thing that came to mind. Why would putting ice down the suit not help keep you cool? People do that all the time in tri kits during the run. I'm pretty much always willing to sacrifice comfort for speed. Sleeved wetsuits are faster when they fit well, and I have zero shoulder restriction in mine.

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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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The hole in the crotch of my wetsuit always keeps me nice and cold....

Strava
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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IIRC Monty had a knack/system for making sure his swim cap fell off early in the swim to help stay cool.

You can also fold back the flap of neoprene under the zipper so more cold water leaks in by your lumbar.

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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Tested this late last year and was surprised by the results, 3.8km swim at slightly easier than IM effort, weighed in pre and post swim.
3.8km- 50mins and lost 2.6kg (I’m 73kg) so it’s pretty significant considering I’m not a heavy sweater.
I’ll be racing an IM in June and now feel like either a sleeveless option or test to see if ice packs inside the wettie make any difference to fluid loss.
Failing that I will seriously just swim at a lower effort to make sure I don’t ruin the following 8hrs.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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I would assume the ice would melt within the 2 to 3 mins it's put in.

I would recommend cutting suit legs and going sleeveless.

And, as someone else mentioned, having your cap fall off (accidentally of course).
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
miklcct wrote:
Sorry but I think this is an oxymoron. The purpose of a wetsuit is to keep you warm, so unless it is wetsuit-MANDATORY (in which hypothermia is a real concern) you should ditch it if you think it's not cold enough.
Eh. Overheating might cost me 1-2sec/100m. A wetsuit will save 6-7sec, especially in potentially choppy waters. That's a tradeoff I'll take.

To me depends more on what the air temp will be. I did a borderline wetsuit swim at the old Silverman outside Vegas and immediately regretted it getting on the bike as it was very hot. If the air is cooler that will bring your core temp down quickly. But The effects of overheating will not be limited to the swim only. It may very well affect your entire race
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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Agree with you 100%. I am a heavy sweater, prone to cramping in hot races, etc. I have noticed a huge difference in the races where I wore a wetsuit- particularly a fullsuit- when the air and water temps were warm. I ended up paying for it in the later stages of the race. If the water temps are at the upper limit, and the air temps are warm I would never wear a fullsuit in those conditions again. I would go sleeveless or nothing. Like another poster, I had an older sleeveless suit where I cut legs to hit about mid-calf.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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I would say go sleeveless, I don't find the sleeveless wetsuit a lot slower than full one. Besides, giving away 1-2s/100m is better than overheating and dehydrating.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [Clintred] [ In reply to ]
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Clintred wrote:
Tested this late last year and was surprised by the results, 3.8km swim at slightly easier than IM effort, weighed in pre and post swim.
3.8km- 50mins and lost 2.6kg (I’m 73kg) so it’s pretty significant considering I’m not a heavy sweater.
I’ll be racing an IM in June and now feel like either a sleeveless option or test to see if ice packs inside the wettie make any difference to fluid loss.
Failing that I will seriously just swim at a lower effort to make sure I don’t ruin the following 8hrs.

That's my experience. A full wetsuit isn't just uncomfortable, but rather it is significantly slower if you are cooking. I am a heavy sweater and the best, fastest option for a barely legal wetsuit swim is to just wear a pair of core shorts. You get 90% of the benefit without compromising the rest of your day.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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You might test SIM shorts under a swim skin.

-bobo

"What's good for me ain't necessarily good for the weak-minded."
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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Yes starting the bike leg already overheated seems like a problem. I have trouble taking in enough fluids so starting somewhat dehydrated would also be bad. Maybe worse than the heat issue. In addition to that it feels kind of free and easy to swim without the suit. I'm so slow that 5 or 10 extra on the swim doesn't mean much.

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Last edited by: spockwaslen: Apr 5, 21 17:49
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
We all know if the swim is wetsuit legal it's faster to swim a wetsuit. And that a sleeved wetsuit will be signficantly faster than a sleeveless. That said, has anyone had any luck staying cool on those borderline, but wetsuit legal swims? Texas will likely be just under the wetsuit threshold for pros and I know that around 70 I still get pretty warm. Would simply putting some ice in the core of the suit be effective? Anyone tried anything else?

Is your goal to be as fast as possible over the whole race, or to actually enjoy the race (or both, if possible)?

I did a sprint triathlon in June 2013, and decided that the lake water was so nice that I'd skip the (legal) wetsuit. Swam from transition to the start as a warmup (while everyone else walked around in their wetsuits). Then raced without the suit, and did the run back to transition at a full, unencumbered sprint. Had the 9th fastest swim split and the fastest first transition. And I really enjoyed the swim without the wetsuit. The 15-20 seconds I might have saved were not enough to make me give up a nice swim experience.

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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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realbdeal wrote:
We all know if the swim is wetsuit legal it's faster to swim a wetsuit. And that a sleeved wetsuit will be signficantly faster than a sleeveless. That said, has anyone had any luck staying cool on those borderline, but wetsuit legal swims? Texas will likely be just under the wetsuit threshold for pros and I know that around 70 I still get pretty warm. Would simply putting some ice in the core of the suit be effective? Anyone tried anything else?

I did my first warmish swim in a wetsuit in Nice, France in Sept of 2019. For the women it was wetsuit legal and probably shouldn't have been. I was too warm for the first time ever. I wish I had just worn my skinsuit. It wasn't terrible and I kept letting water into the neck every 10-15 minutes. It wasn't like I was going to be competitive in that race anyway so I regret wearing the full wetsuit. You might want a shortie wetsuit (for lack of better words). And/or sleeveless too if you don't feel comfortable w/o a wetsuit. Someone mentioned SIM shorts. I love those and swim in the open water with them when it's too warm for a wetsuit for training swims.

If you are doing the TX 70.3, I did that also in 2019 and wasn't too warm in my full wetsuit. The water was just fine, not too cold or too warm. I know nothing about the full IM in TX in regards to water temps.

Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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Hey Ben,

the xterra in alabama is a borderline race as well.
Pro it will def NOT be wetsuit legal but the ag race is always on the fence.

I wont be traveling with a wetsuit. Per what KenL stated, the 10-15 sec loss of swimming is nothing compared with the hassle of dealing with putting on and taking off a wetsuit plus the energy wasted in overheating esp if the temp is borderline. I will be taking some floaty shorts however bc if it is wetsuit legal I throw those bad boys on and get some benefit without overheating and much easier through transition.

Just my .02

Youre a helluva swimmer so I would think you would want to do something similar to what I am doing.

Good luck, let us know what you decide.

daved

http://www.theundergroundcoach.com
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Re: Tips for staying cool in a warm-ish wetsuit swim? [realbdeal] [ In reply to ]
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If you are insisting on wearing a full suit then cut some strategically placed holes in the suit to get some water circulation. Probably in the underarm area would be best.

I would vote sleeveless or the floaty shorts with swim skin combo
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