What is your opinion/experience on swimming IMFL without a wetsuit? I swim in the atlantic weekly & actually prefer swimming without. What would you guess the time difference would be, and is that much time in cooler water a problem?
The time in cooler water isn’t a problem (I guess). The problem is the 4-5 minutes you may loose on the water… and this is a low shoot. Probably will be 7-8 min…
Although since IMFL is in saltwater, the difference won’t be as great (since you float better in salt water).
I’d guess that the time difference is about half of what you’d experience in fresh water.
Water temperatures here that time of year are generally in the 70-75F range, which are easy enough temperatures to acclimate to.
My speed with a wetsuit is 10% faster. Why would you not use one? Do you use aerobars?
Dave
but wouldn’t you float better in a wetsuit as well as without one?
j
I have only used a full suit, and I don’t like the restrictive feeling of the shoulders/sleeves (yes, I know it may be a fit issue, but I prefer the feel of no suit) The john suit may be more comfortable, but my concern is that it’s more difficult to swim breaststroke due to the buoyancy in the legs. I do long swims in the ocean, and occasionally I like to swim BS as an active recovery stroke. It’s nearly impossible in a wetsuit. The buoyancy in the saltwater takes care of balance, so I’m not really concerned about that.
Yeah you would float better in salt water with a wet suit then without, I was just trying to illustrate that the penalty in Salt Water may not be as severe (if you want to call it a penalty)
I was a competive swimming for many years, and of all things a drop dead sprinter; so arm comfort is key for me. I have found that a full suit doesn’t restrict my arms, but like you said, fit is a big factor.
One thing to watch for with a Long John suit, is that it may through your bodies balance off. In college I swam with a Long John Fast Skin, and it completely threw my balance out of whack (due to my legs floating better then my upper body).
Thanks for the input - I’ll be renting an Orca john suit for an oly next weekend (ocean swim), we’ll see how it goes. Thx.
I’d love to have the temp lower, closer to 70 (or below). Either that or high enough to disallow wetsuits (not a problem for me). Any temp in between, I tend to overheat. I use a T1. In those warmer swims, I have to take a moment, every once in a while and flush some cooler water through the suit.