I had a wetsuit that was too big. But it felt great out of the water. A LOT of water collected in it when i swam (I could feel cool water rushing over my chest/back). I went down a size, felt like I was stuffed into it and swam a LOT faster.

i wear the desoto 2 piece and it was the top. I could probably size down in the bottoms too, but it's not important because of the style. And more rubber makes you float better, makes you faster.

Hmm..so you are saying regardless of how much I hate the sleeves, they are making me faster so I should not go sleeveless.

Thanks...you might be saving me some effort and money.

Yes, sleeves make you faster. That's why pros wear sleeves.

There are some people who really might be faster in a sleeveless, but if they found a full sleeve wetsuit that fit right, they wouldn't be.

When i did my wetsuit testing, I swam in a suit that was 1 size too big. Tons of water in the suit, you could feel it rolling around inside. You'd roll and the water would be a half second behind you. It was as slow as the slowest well fitting suit and nowhere near as fast as any of the top suits.

Bottom line: a well fitting wetsuit is faster then an ill fitting wetsuit.

And don't go sleeveless. Maybe 1 out of 400 people will be faster in a sleeveless wetsuit. What are the odds?
Personally I'd try several suits before settling on one. A great fitting suit on land may not be so great in the water and vice versa.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Sort of like compression tights, if it's easy it's too big. :)

I made many mistakes in the wetsuit purchase department back in the day. My first mistake was to buy a women's wetsuit. I'm all torso and no legs... basically I'm built like a little guy (with hips!).

More pertinent to your question is the fact that once I started poking around I also learned that most people tell you to add 10-15 pounds to your weight and buy that size wetsuit. Once I did that I immediately noticed a much more comfortable fit.

So yeah, I would say go for the next size up especially f you aren't comfortable and feel like a stuffed sausage.

Then again, this is just my personal experience. If you want to be sure, why not head to a store and try on some different sized wetsuits to make sure.

As someone who is deceptively heavy, I decline to buy anything based on suggested weight. :)

I'll never (again) buy a wetsuit based on weights, or even height. That wetsuit fits in the hips but gapes in the shoulders and chest. I was hauling around heaps of water with every stroke. When I replaced it with a properly fitting wetsuit, I took 5min off my IM swim time. My current suit is a pain to get on - think stuffing 10lbs of potatoes into a 5lb bag ... but once I have it on properly and am in the water, it's perfect.

There are a couple of posts on the main forum that outline the steps for putting on a wetsuit. Positioning of the sleeves on your wrists is critical to in-water comfort and feel. If you don't already, do take the extra time to do it properly and you will see a big improvement in the feel of the suit.

My old wetsuit was just a little too big. Water rushed through when I swam. And it wasn't even that easy to put on. I don't recommend going up in size.

It is supposed to be hard to put on and fit snug. I also agree that sleeves are faster and if you put it on right they should not be uncomfortable.

Thanks everyone, it seems like you are all in agreement about "water rushing through"...that does sound like a PITA.

OK, I will save myself the money and stick with my old strait jacket til it falls apart and then I will make time to do a proper try-on. THX