‘Hi, my name is Mark, and I am a 2 piece wetsuit skeptic.’
That was my story up to 2 weeks ago. I have used the same top of the range Orca suit for the last 3 seasons, and while the sizing was pretty much bang on throughout, I found I had difficulty getting a full breath until about 500m into a race (often causing me to stop and tread water for a minute), my shoulders would fatigue, and it would take a UFC effort to get the thing off. This all affected my swim times and my state of mind going into the bike.
Then Santa brought me a DeSoto First Wave Concept wetsuit for Christmas. ‘A 2 piece wetsuit?! Who the heck makes a 2 piece wetsuit?! Won’t it ride up? Won’t it get too much water in it? If it’s such a great idea, why aren’t all manufacturers doing it?’
Well, since DeSoto take products back no questions asked I figured I would take it for a test drive - one mile open water. And far out - here was my experience:
No shoulder fatigue
No tightness in chest - could breath easily from the start (a definite plus for swimming!)
Was easy to swim with high elbows due to the flexibility of the material and the freedom of movement with the separate top
I nearly punched myself in the face when I took it off as it came flying off
The First Wave Concept also comes with 5mm thickness in the forearms - interesting. I am not entirely sure how much benefit I derived from the extra thickness (DeSoto say it should feel like a 6th finger) but interestingly I felt like the change of thickness at the elbow acted like a conscious hinge point, making me more conscious of my catch.
So, I didn’t send it back, I sold my Orca suit, have since raced twice in my DeSoto suit and (almost) enjoyed the swim. I now consider myself reformed!
BTW - apologies to my northern hemisphere counterparts - the sun is shining here Down Under!
Anyone know the main difference between the Smart1 and the Black Pearl (top/pullovers) other than price? Which would work better for cold ocean swimming?
question - does it mean that the bib john and teh top have to be thinner where they overlap so that the sum of them is within WTC rules?
Except for the Water Rover, Desoto’s 2-piece suits have always had 3mm tops and 2mm straps on the bibjohn. So yes the parts that overlap have to be thinner in order to comply, and yes they in fact are.
This leaves the door open for zany ideas like a “two layer wetsuit” that has two 3 mm layers thus becoming 6 mm thick. Neither one is over the legal limit, and hence, by the letter of the law, legal.
In any event the suits haven’t created a rules issue except the vaunted Water Rover, which is like wearing an Evinrude on your back. It’s 10 mm thick. It puts so much blubber on your back you are now part of the order Cetacea.
Bottom line: The 2 piece suit is likely the best choice for most people, and probably the de facto choice for marginal swimmers. The top and bottom operate independantly from each other. There are big advantages to that for a weak swmmer.
In any event the suits haven’t created a rules issue except the vaunted Water Rover, which is like wearing an Evinrude on your back. It’s 10 mm thick. It puts so much blubber on your back you are now part of the order Cetacea.
Tom, people do listen to you on this site and for that reason you should at least look into stuff a little bit before you say it. The suit is not 10mm think, there are portions that are 10 mm thick but also portions that are 2mm, 5mm, 8mm. Saying the suit is 10mm is completely inaccurate.
