thinking about getting one of these for IM- thinking I could just have my race suit underneath with race #'s pinned on, perhaps shave a full 2 sec of the swim time, have a faster T1-
anyone use one of these? I did notice many of the top pros use these- reid, deboom, etc… I am a bit worried it might make me hot in kona? any thoughts?
The water in Kona is warm but not bath water, I’d say it’s 75F or so (someone correct me if they know for sure.) Anyway it’s certainly not as hot as St Croix would be (82-83 degrees.) Those suits don’t have much insulating properties anyway so I’d say you’d be fine wearing it.
On the flip side, the time it takes you to remove it in t1 is probably equal to the time you’d take to put on your jersey if you swam with no shirt - plus you’d save 150 bucks.
According to the WTC, the water is typically 79 degrees.
Why not just wear a one-piece skin suit for the entire race? I ask 'cause that’s what I plan on wearing, and am curious if there are any downsides. I wore shorts and jersey at IMF for all 3 segments, started with them under a wetsuit, and liked moving through transitions with facility. I find the skinsuits are just more comfortable, though I have not used one for long course.
I just tried this with a TYR Aquapel at USAT Nationals. (I needed something to put over my 2 piece race suit since my tri shorts fill up with water and act as a drag suit. 1 piece race suit wasn’t an option due to sponsor obligations.) I thought it worked out really well - felt nice and fast in the suit and didn’t have any problems getting out of the suit in T1 (probably cost me an additional 5 seconds tops). The trick is to modify the swimsuit with a waxed shoelace so you can pull down the zipper in transition like a wetsuit.
In Kona last year, I saw a lot of people just wearing regular Speedos and changing into their tri suits in transition. I don’t think temperature will be an issue, as I didn’t have a problem overheating and the Shreveport water temperature was much warmer than Kona. Your decision should come down to whether or not you think the fastskin/aquapel makes you faster enough on the swim over a standard Speedo followed by a T1 change to justify the $150+ pricetag.
I will be wearing a speedo fastskin in Kona. I will change to bike shorts after the swim and my sponser top that i need to wear. Deboom and most of the studs wear them…I just hope I can get it off quick in T1.
I will be wearing a speedo fastskin in Kona. I will change to bike shorts after the swim and my sponser top that i need to wear. Deboom and most of the studs wear them…I just hope I can get it off quick in T1.
well, why don’t you just wear the fastskin suit over your bike shorts and jersey? that would make your T1 really fast- which is why I was thinking of picking one of these up-
looking at the IM broadcast, seems like this is what reid, et al did- just unzipped the suit and had their race suit underneath…
That is a good idea. The weight of the bike shorts pad wont slow me down? I need to bring GarlicBreath alongt as my coach!
Wish everyone luck out there…
Kevin G.
been wondering the same thing, not for kona as I’m a spectator this year but I’ve been debating buying a Aquashift suit for a while. Wondering how long it would take to take off and if it would be wearable for a full oly distance tri. Anyone have any experience with the Aquashifts? $250 ain’t cheap though…
It’ll be fine, just make sure you tie a shoelace or something to the zipper so you can get the damn thing off in transition… and practice before the race. I’ve started using them in much shorter races, sometimes only taking the fastskin off for the run. This keeps the number out of the wind and allows a speedo for the run portion without having chafing issues.
If you really want to be fast in T1 get a one piece suit designed for swimming like the Orca Elite or Speedo Aquablade. Use a racebelt and you are through T1 in seconds. That’s what I’ll be usingas I have no sponsers to worry about.