Hi all, tri newbie here. Going to be doing Staffordshire 70.3 in a couple days.
I am planning on wearing tri shorts and a nike compression top. Is it going to be best for me to wear the top under my wetsuit or put it on after? The tops material dries quite quick and I keep reading that trying to put on a compression top when you’re wet is next to impossible! So I’m leaning towards wearing it underneath, just wondering what everyone would reccomend?
Thanks!
Wear it under wetsuit. When you are wet, it’s hard to put on something quick. If you want to wear it after the swim, get yourself wet and practice.
I might recommend getting a good fitting tri top and wear it under your wetsuit. Without knowing exactly what is meant by Nike compression top, I worry that it would be restrictive to both movement and breathing as well as possibly hot and not moisture wicking if not the right type of material. I wore a tight long sleeve under armor top under my tri top in a cold early season duathlon and found it much harder to breathe on the 2nd run.
A good case study for practicing what you plan to do race day. Make sure you get in some open water swims with the exact gear setup you plan on using during the race. That will tell you if there are fit/restriction/usability issues.
Thanks for the replies guys.
I think I will get a tri top tomorrow, unfortunately I won’t get chance to test it out in the water (i know, i’m leaving it to the last minute!)
To be honest I’m clueless with most sports gear. I assumed a compression top would be a good idea for cycling and running part of the ironman but perhaps not. The top I have is basically this:
That’s certainly not the worst thing you could compete in. I have a few of those shirts and they do tend to dry quickly and wick sweat ok. If you have been training in that Nike top with no issues then go for it.
Tri tops are nice as thet can be zipped down and have pockets on it as well.
Thanks for the reassurance, I have done a sea swim in that before and I do remember it drying quick. It’s comfy and keeps me quite cool usually.
Defo under the wetsuit, I’d say.
As other say, saves a lot of faff trying to get it on when wet.
Also its not exactly tropical in the Midlands at present, and I’d suspect today’s rain will chill the water another degree or so. So the top on in the water helps there.
Defo try at least getting the wetsuit ON before Sunday, and work out how to get the sleeves comfy. One less stress on tue morning.
Weather in Staffs on Sunday is looking dry, but not massively warm : 10C at 7am, peaks at 16C at 2pm.
Hope you enjoy the day out.
You should wear it OVER the wetsuit. Major style points for that.
Defo under the wetsuit, I’d say.
As other say, saves a lot of faff trying to get it on when wet.
Also its not exactly tropical in the Midlands at present, and I’d suspect today’s rain will chill the water another degree or so. So the top on in the water helps there.
Defo try at least getting the wetsuit ON before Sunday, and work out how to get the sleeves comfy. One less stress on tue morning.
Weather in Staffs on Sunday is looking dry, but not massively warm : 10C at 7am, peaks at 16C at 2pm.
Hope you enjoy the day out.
Thanks man, I have tried getting the wetsuit on and its a perfect fit so hopefully that will be one thing that should be ok on Sunday. Not looking forward to the rather cold water though :-\
You should wear it OVER the wetsuit. Major style points for that.
Haha, might make the transition a little bit tricky though 
I’ll be OW swimming in the morn (Saturday) near-ish to Staffs so I’ll report back on what effect the rain has had vs last week.
Thanks for the replies guys.
I think I will get a tri top tomorrow, unfortunately I won’t get chance to test it out in the water (i know, i’m leaving it to the last minute!)
To be honest I’m clueless with most sports gear. I assumed a compression top would be a good idea for cycling and running part of the ironman but perhaps not. The top I have is basically this:
Which Ironman race are you doing?
You should wear it OVER the wetsuit. Major style points for that.
Haha, might make the transition a little bit tricky though
No, go to the stripper and see how they react. HAHAHA
A good case study for practicing what you plan to do race day. Make sure you get in some open water swims with the exact gear setup you plan on using during the race. That will tell you if there are fit/restriction/usability issues.
Used a brand new pair of goggle for 70.3 whose swim happened in the ocean.
Water was leaking all the way and I struggled big time. Definitely practice with actual gear even in the pool.
jimatbeyond - Staffordshire 70.3
s13tx - Haha, I think I would be getting a yellow card at least
I know my goggles are all good, I may well do the practice swim tomorrow to test out the swimsuit though.
Thanks again for the help everyone.
A little update. I swam this morn, in a lake not tooo fsr from where you’ll be tomorrow morning (i was at Barton marina).
The temp was 16.2 C (from a digital gauge tethered to a bouy, reading a little under the surface, where the watee depth is prob 7 ft ir so. No calibration cert tho !!)
By comparison this time last week it was 17.7C. So 1.5C drop due to the rain yesterday and overnight.
Actually seemed OK when in.