Estimating Wetsuit Swim Times

Triathlon Forum
1

I was mulling over the following today…if I know my 1500m time in a pool, can I estimate my OWS time with a wetsuit?

I understand there are lots of variables here…but for fun, let’s use my own situation.

I swim 1500m (well, actually 1650 yards because it’s a 25 yard pool) in 30 minutes. I do open turns, not flip turns. So that’s 66 lengths of the pool and 65 open turns.

Let’s assume it’s an inland lake, so no waves. Let’s assume I have a decent full wetsuit and assume no drafting. (Naturally, no wetsuit in the pool).

What would be your best guess at my OWS time?

2

8-9%
faster
.

3

For me, I pretty much hit my pool times in SCM in an OW swim. Turns+underwaters give the extra speed that I get from the suit. If you dont turn/streamline well you can probably gain 4s/100 right there, and if your body positions gets better you will get even faster, maybe 2-8 more seconds per 100.

4

a wetsuit is ~ 6-8 seconds per 100/yds faster than no wet suit. That should get you into the ball park.

5

I’m about the same as my 1500 time too

jaretj
.

6

Im 10-14 seconds faster with suite in the pool. Ive tested this. I am a newer swimmer, heavy legged with a poor kick. I believe this to be the reason for the much faster times with the suite. Ive been told that the better swimmer you are, or swimmers with a “good kick” do not benefit as much with a suite. Also been told that very strog swimmers are even faster without the suite.