I own and swim in a sleeveless wet suit. It fits great and I like it alot. I have one race coming up (Alcatraz) in which I would rather have a full sleeve wetsuit. I am not going to buy a full sleeve wet suit just for one race. I don’t want to rent either. Last weekend, I did an ocean swim triathlon (65 deg) and saw one swimmer using a sleeveless wetsuit with what looked like a long sleeve rash guard underneath. Any thoughts on this idea? Is there another under garment top that would also work with a sleeveless wet suit and provide some warmth? I could just HTFU and swim with my sleeveless. Looking at some Youtube videos from past races at Alcatraz, I saw some swimmers with sleeveless, so I know it has been done. I am not too concerned with slower times by using my sleeveless with some other undergarment. Thoughts?
Some suggestions in this thread.
i had a similar issue, i bought these
http://www.trisports.com/quintana-roo-wetsuit-speedsleeves.html
.
Sneakerchimp, have you tried out the speed sleeves yet? What do you think? Has anyone used a long sleeved rash guard underneath a sleeveless wet suit?
ive tried them on. they seem to be what i was looking for. some extra protection on the arms thats not going to get in the way of my stroke. Im happy with them.
someone suggested something else in the other thread, but i really didnt want something that was going to be such a drastic change to what i am used to.
I did that setup for the Big Rock Olympic tri last year. Worked great for me, but I was using a DeSoto sleeveless top and the bibjohn underneath. The long sleeve rash guard was perfect for the bike because it was overcast and a bit cool, but I didn’t need a long sleeve wetsuit top because the water was nearly 70 degrees.
Tribody, How did the rash guard feel during the swim? Any restriction issues? Did it feel o.k. to swim in?
I did an early-season tri a couple years ago with a long-sleeve UnderArmour shirt under my sleeveless wetsuit (too cold to bike in short sleeves). It chafed my armpits, but a liberal application of BodyGlide should prevent that. Other than that, it worked great. It’s a “Metal” UA shirt, so relatively thick material and very tight.
I raced with a BodyGlove shirt under a sleeveless wetsuit and did not have any issues during the swim. The sleeves were tight enough that I wasn’t even conscious of them. They also had a loop that hooked over my thumb so that the end of the sleeve wouldn’t ride up my arm. I took the shirt off in T1, so I can’t comment on how it might work for a full race.