Question in comparing pool swimming to open water.
Let’s assume good water conditions in race and decent sighting/staying on course.
How much time faster per 100m WITHOUT a wetsuit do you think you are in open water (or do you think you are slower) considering everything?
How much time faster per 100m WITH a wetsuit do you think you are in open water considering everything?
For relevance I’m a swimmer by upbringing, but really thinking just overall.
When I swim in a short course pool, I would say I am about the same speed as swimming OW with a wetsuit in good conditions.
I think it depends a lot on your background as a swimmer, where a wetsuit will help a slower swimmer more (they often have body position issues, sinking hips, etc.) and a shorter pool will help a faster swimmer more (they have faster turns).
I was a swimmer, and I find my long-course times are about the same as I am in open-water (wetsuit or non-wetsuit are pretty close) and short-course is significantly faster.
Short-course threshold: 1:08/100m
Long-course threshold: 1:12-1:13/100m (I don’t get to swim here often, so not 100% sure)
Ironman races: not swimming close to threshold, considering its a long race after the swim!
Last Ironman wetsuit (whistler): 49:something (1:19s)
Last Ironman non-wetsuit (kona): 50:something (1:20s)
When I swim in a short course pool, I would say I am about the same speed as swimming OW with a wetsuit in good conditions.
This is the correct answer. To take this further I know exactly how much difference turns make with no wetsuit.
So for example on a 400 SCM vs LCM I am 10 seconds slower. Thats with half the turns. If I remove all turns, that makes it 20 seconds slower per 400m or 5s per 100m. So whatever pace I can hold for a pool 1500m, I will be 75 seconds slower open water with no wetsuit. My 23:30 pool 1500m time translates to a 24.45 no wetsuit open water swim with no waves and no drafting. Add drafting in and I will be faster than 24:45. Add waves in and I will be slower. Both of those are variable
Question in comparing pool swimming to open water.
Let’s assume good water conditions in race and decent sighting/staying on course.
How much time faster per 100m WITHOUT a wetsuit do you think you are in open water (or do you think you are slower) considering everything?
How much time faster per 100m WITH a wetsuit do you think you are in open water considering everything?
For relevance I’m a swimmer by upbringing, but really thinking just overall.
Without a wetsuit - I estimate my OW time to be 10% slower than my 50 m pool time. 5% comes from the ability of staying straight, another 5% comes from the push off in a pool. However, with good drafting, I can gain about 10% of speed so they cancelled out.
I have never used a wetsuit so I don’t know actually how it helps. I will probably try one after I move to a place which is cold enough for me to consider using one.
It depends a lot on the quality of your turns in the pool. I do open turns. My OW pace in great conditions is about the same as my 25 yd pool pace. With a wetsuit, my OW pace is about 10 sec/100yd faster than 25 yd pool.
You should be slower in open water than a pool. For every turn you eliminate, you lose roughly 1s. This tracks with the speedo time converter tool if you convert time from sc meters to lc meters (it’s closer to 0.8s). I can’t see how this number goes to zero (or negative) unless you really don’t push off the wall at all while swimming in a pool. So going from short course to open water, all else being equal, you should be slower by about 4s per 100.
Getting the benefit from a wetsuit is probably more individual, and I think is more dependent on the distance. Since it allows for less effort to maintain the same speed, it delays fatigue and makes it harder to compare for longer distances. Also, the wetsuit is actually a hindrance to good turns in a pool since it wasn’t designed for the streamline position (and it pulls you up to the surface faster off the wall than without it). So for something like a single 100, the wetsuit might be 2-3s faster, but over al 1500, that benefit might approach 5s per 100.
I am much faster in open water with a wetsuit then a pool, its not even really that close either… I also can’t flip turn anymore.
When I swim in a short course pool, I would say I am about the same speed as swimming OW with a wetsuit in good conditions.
^^^^^This.
It’s nice that it works out this way (walls=wetsuit) since all the races where I am are wetsuit legal, so I know from my pool form what to expect.