After trying on every entry level wetsuit in town, I settled on the best fitting which worked great for my first season.
As offseason approaches, I wonder will a high end wetsuit save me more time at oly distance? I have invested in TI lessons and practices, but wonder if I can buy time in this part of the tri.
Thanks.
I am curious if you got a full sleeve suit or sleeveless one. I have a sleeveless one, and am looking to get a new full suit-mostly for cold temps, and also for an upgrade in time and savings.
I will mention that I focused more on swimming this past offseason and I too used the TI stuff. I think taking the time to get acquainted with better form really helped me a lot. I also think that because I got better at swimming, I wanted to swim more-because I was more confident. In the end, my swim times without my wetsuit = that of my previous year while wearing the wetsuit, and not being such a good swimmer. So, swim more, get more confident, and that will help more than just buying a top of the line wetsuit. However, I am also sure that the upgraded suit would really help!
I race in an Xterra Vortex 2 which is a middle of the road wetsuit. The thing is bomb proof and very very flexible. I swam with it in a pool (Xterra tells you not to do this) for 6 months, raced in it and did plenty of open water swims. It has a few nicks in it but it’s still in great shape.
Las Vegas Multisport (my local tri shop) put on a demo a while ago for my master’s swim team and I demo’d some of the high end wetsuits. The suits are more flexible, but I don’t think you are really going to gain the benefit from the suit unless you are doing the longer distance races. I would say half IM and up. At longer distance races the more flexible suits are a little less tiring on your shoulers.
When I was buying my Xterra wetsuit I asked several of their sales reps how much faster their top of the line suit was in comparrison to their Vortex 2. They said unless I was a really really good swimmer I wouldn’t notice a difference. Even if I was, it would be seconds at best.
So my advice to you is buy an Xterra Vortex 2 http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/products.html. The higher end suits tear very easily. If you drop $600 on a suit that last thing you want it to do is tear. Xterra always puts on sales near the end of the season and if you enter races they sponsor (ie. Mission Bay Triathlon) they sometimes offer deals to the people who raced. Last year I got mine for $200.
Plus they are cool guys.
Hope that helps
As for your question of sleeve vs sleeveless, I went with sleeve as it would maximize buoyancy and I could start open water swimming earlier and later in season.
If your current wetsuit is comfortable and you’re competing as a middle of the packer, I don’t think a high end suit will make a huge difference. Why not give yourself another season in your current wetsuit and see how you do after TI lessons. Then make a decision next year. I personally opted for a mid-range wetsuit and used the $150 savings for some other gear.
I trained and raced in a middle of the road Orca Predator 2 for the past 4 years. After it was stolen out of T2 at Wildflower, I picked up a new top of the line QR Superfull from a fellow STer. I’m much faster in this suit than I was in the Orca. I don’t know if it’s the Yamamoto 40 neoprene (that only the top of the line wetsuits seem to have) or what , but it is super soft and supple which as best as I can tell makes me faster in the water.
Sounds like deferring an wetsuit upgrade and spending on swimming technique is the right way to go. Thanks for the posts.
Sounds like deferring an wetsuit upgrade and spending on swimming technique is the right way to go.
That’s always a wise move and I would encourage you to do just that.
That fits well with our design philosophy at Nineteen in that we make our top-end wetsuit, the Frequency, to encourage great swim technique and if you already have great swim technique, the Frequency will not alter that smooth and powerful stroke.
Many entry level suits, because of their design, the panelling of the neoprene and where they are creating buoyancy, can significantly alter your swim stroke. This can lead to problems and less then optimal swim speed even while swimming in a wetsuit.
Just wanted to point out a subtle difference between entry level and top-end wetsuits, that does not get talked about much.
Hope this helps.
You need to use what FITS best for you, whether that is mid price or what not. I’ve been swimming since I was 3 which means I want something that fits as if there are NO constrictions, so that meant I had to shell out some extra dollars to get the higher end suit for more flexibility. I initially bought a Vector Pro 2 which at the time was Xterra’s high end. It didn’t quite fit right, and fortunately it fit my training buddy PERFECTLY, so she bought it from me and I then spent about 3 hours on the phone with different vendors with measurements, etc., looking for the right suit. Ended up with a sleeveless 2008 Helix (sleeveless b/c I live in Alabama…and actually didn’t even use it this year at all other than practice in the lake!!) I also have a PointZero 3. I don’t swim in a wetsuit unless it is about 72 or colder especially for the longer races.
GO WITH FIT FIT FIT!!!
Sounds like deferring an wetsuit upgrade and spending on swimming technique is the right way to go. Thanks for the posts.
Bingo
You need to use what FITS best for you, whether that is mid price or what not. I’ve been swimming since I was 3 which means I want something that fits as if there are NO constrictions, so that meant I had to shell out some extra dollars to get the higher end suit for more flexibility. I initially bought a Vector Pro 2 which at the time was Xterra’s high end. It didn’t quite fit right, and fortunately it fit my training buddy PERFECTLY, so she bought it from me and I then spent about 3 hours on the phone with different vendors with measurements, etc., looking for the right suit. Ended up with a sleeveless 2008 Helix (sleeveless b/c I live in Alabama…and actually didn’t even use it this year at all other than practice in the lake!!) I also have a PointZero 3. I don’t swim in a wetsuit unless it is about 72 or colder especially for the longer races.
GO WITH FIT FIT FIT!!!
Ditto.
Fit is everything. If you are not comfortable in it, the design features are a mute point because you just
may turn a roadie instead of being a triathlete 
That being said, our wetsuits come in 9 sizes. We have also developed a very important new technology
(we do this in house) which allows us to break the buoyancy performance barrier bar far from what
wetsuits have previously been capable of. WhaEven better is that we have brought this technology to the
entry level suits which help with what entry level swimmers need the most help with, their legs. This feature
called BLT (buoyancy laminate technology) has been available on our high end wetsuit this year, but for 09
will be in all of our models. Our aerospace engineer has also been a competitive swimmer and a triathlete.
You can be assured that at all levels of our suits will give maximum performance, positioning in the water
and great fit.
Cheers!
Darren Zielinski
www.RocketScienceSports.com
www.RSSportsPost.blogspot.com