This obviously must be a bad idea as I never see anyone doing it but… Why not wear buoyancy shorts with your tri suit?
Seems like it would have a lot of advantages-keeps legs/core up, no restriction in shoulders, a lot faster to get out of?
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
In a wetsuit legal event???
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
In a wetsuit legal event???
If you wear buoyance shorts as your only neoprene, have at it (but its going to be slower than a full suit). But if you add them to a full wetsuit, now you are at 10mm neoprene in your core which is completely illegal. May as well put styrofoam inside your suit or wear a waterover if you’re going to play that game.
I’ve worn them a couple of times in sprint triathlons that were wetsuit legal. I’m not going to mess with a full wetsuit for a 400 meter swim.
Wearing a Simsuit or buoyancy pants with your** trisuit **is perfectly legal in a wetsuit legal race.
I daresay they are fine over or under a swimskin, although self defeating for T1 purposes.
I have done it in both a sprint distance and an Olympic, because they are way easier to run in and get off, and some courses have long transitions, so a few seconds saved for the OCD among us. As most people wear a wetsuit no matter the water temperature because of the time saving it’s just another tool to match that advantage.
It’s also great for pool training when you want to match the position in the water that a wetsuit gives you. Most people don’t realize that as it raises your legs and feet it also affects the kick. As I don’t kick at all in a wetsuit the Simsuit gives you that option in a pool without you suffering the extreme heat generated by wearing a wetsuit.
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
In a wetsuit legal event???
If you wear buoyance shorts as your only neoprene, have at it (but its going to be slower than a full suit). But if you add them to a full wetsuit, now you are at 10mm neoprene in your core which is completely illegal. May as well put styrofoam inside your suit or wear a waterover if you’re going to play that game.
Yep that’s why I said with your tri suit and not with your wetsuit…
I wouldn’t have thought buoyancy shorts would be all that much slower than a fully wetty. Might have to experiment…
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
In a wetsuit legal event???
If you wear buoyance shorts as your only neoprene, have at it (but its going to be slower than a full suit). But if you add them to a full wetsuit, now you are at 10mm neoprene in your core which is completely illegal. May as well put styrofoam inside your suit or wear a waterover if you’re going to play that game.
Yep that’s why I said with your tri suit and not with your wetsuit…
I wouldn’t have thought buoyancy shorts would be all that much slower than a fully wetty. Might have to experiment…
If they are your only neoprene, then that’s fine with a fabric suit. I did not read what you said properly. Trisuit is not a WETSUIT 
I’ve done it (on a hot day in like 82F water - the race was wetsuit legal nonetheless), and I’ve had a friend do it.
I’ve done it (on a hot day in like 82F water - the race was wetsuit legal nonetheless), and I’ve had a friend do it.
Do you think there was much of a speed difference? IM Cairns for example in Australia is wetsuit legal due to stingers but hot as heck,yet everyone seems to wear wetsuits.
It’s also great for pool training when you want to match the position in the water that a wetsuit gives you. Most people don’t realize that as it raises your legs and feet it also affects the kick. As I don’t kick at all in a wetsuit the Simsuit gives you that option in a pool without you suffering the extreme heat generated by wearing a wetsuit.
Wouldn’t a pull buoy do the same thing if you aren’t going to kick?
I did a bunch of personal wetsuit testing this summer and sim shorts tested better than my full sleeve suits, which I now believe is because they were too tight. (The shorts tested slower than my sleeveless and the full sleeve suit I subsequently bought). Anyhow, on the basis of this testing I swam Timberman in sim shorts and floaty calf guards … I believe it was my fastest HIM split, not by much if true, but it was definitely my best competitive result … course was perhaps a bit long or otherwise slow as times were not fast … so if you want to try I’d say go for it, especially if the water is near cut-off temps and overheating is a possibility.
I’ve done it (on a hot day in like 82F water - the race was wetsuit legal nonetheless), and I’ve had a friend do it.
Do you think there was much of a speed difference? IM Cairns for example in Australia is wetsuit legal due to stingers but hot as heck,yet everyone seems to wear wetsuits.
It was definitely slower than a wetsuit. Not sure if it was faster than a trisuit-only option. My feeling after that race and some casual swims is that the speed in floaty pants is closer to no-neoprene than a wetsuit, but it could be individual.
I do like my choice for that particular race. I would’ve been boiled by T1 in a wetsuit, and the transition time cost versus trisuit-only was negligible.
Maybe I’m reading the rule incorrectly, but the wetsuit limit in Ironman events is 5mm. A lot of entry level wetsuits are 3mm. If you could find a pair of 2mm neoprene shorts I don’t see why you couldn’t get run that.
Better yet, a pair of 2mm buoyancy pants.
Even better than that, a 5mm wetsuit.
Wouldn’t a pull buoy do the same thing if you aren’t going to kick?
Yes and no.
I used a pull buoy for many years as all club swimmers do, and did before simsuits came along a few years ago, but it’s not the same as a sim suit. First you can swim a full stroke in any stroke and also just kick (any stroke) with a simsuit, you can open turn and flip, it never pops out halfway down a length, you don’t get cramps from holding the darn thing and last but not least, it actually holds you in the water in a different position because they’re not as buoyant as a pull buoy.
For weaker swimmers it allows them to “keep up” in lane swimming and also focus on stroke rather than just keeping up. I am an inveterate cheat in lane swimming and often put the sim suit on halfway through a set when I was not "on’. But then I race that way as well…:0)
Illegal. You woulf be a DQ.
Giving out wrong info here without checking is not cool. People can get confused.
OP, I’m totally with you. Full or sleeveless wetsuit is very tight on my chest, so I have to stop to catch my breath sometimes. I just hate it and actually it slows down my swim time. I do have Lava pants, so I’m going to use it when water is not that cold and still wetsuit legal. Most people have no problems with wetsuit, but I’m different.
Wetsuit manufacturers have for some reason been spouting off the nonsense that you want a very tight wetsuit that takes 20 minutes to put on. Conversely myself and others have tested looser wetsuits vs tight and concluded looser is faster. May depend on the individual but even when I felt the wetsuit flooding it was still fast. Turns out to be just a mental hindrance. With a tight wetsuit not only are you constricting yourself but constricting the neoprene by forcing air and ultimately buoyancy “out.â€
I recommend some testing in open water on a very defined, calm, open water course. This can’t be done in the ocean or on a windy day. If your wetsuit feels like it’s constricting you, it is and I think you should size up.