I searched, didn’t find direct answers so I’m just going to ask the questions I have.
My items: Orca Core short sleeve tri suit & Desoto T1 sleeved wetsuit. No swim skin, no sleeveless wetsuit. My race: IMTX
If the swim is wetsuit legal, do you wear your sleeved suit normal or roll it down under your wetsuit? If you roll it down, why? Avoiding stretching? Less shoulder restriction? Since I have a sleeved wetsuit does it even matter?
If the swim is not wetsuit legal, is it business as usual? Zip up and dive in? I seem to recall reading that you don’t want to swim in a sleeved tri suit, am I dreaming this? Easier to swim in a standard kit since I don’t own a swim skin and make a 30 second kit change in T1?
I’m still not sure if i want to go this route as I have swam in an sleeved suit years ago from Pearl Izumi and I hated it. I’ve always rolled the suits down.
This was back in 2012-2013 when sleeved suits were coming out. A local guy who is fast and turned pro also swam in the same suit and hated it. Both of our swim times were off from our normal times. It felt restrictive and slow.
However, the new suits have gotten a lot better. I’m a strong swimmer so I don’t want any restriction on my shoulders. I’ve talked to Roka and they said the sleeved swimskins are very stretchy and won’t hurt your swim stroke.
However, sleeved tri suits were made for bike aerodynamics and preventing sunburn on the run. I don’t think any of the current suits were designed to be swam in and I think that repeated swimming may stretch them out. I could be wrong on this. Roka and other companies offer the sleeved or sleeveless depending on your choice.
I think the demand for sleeved swimskins came from people not wanting to roll it down and deal with it coming out of the water. Most of the pros still roll them down and I don’t think I have seen a pro swimming in a sleeved swim skin. If anyone has can you post pictures?
I’m still not sure if i want to go this route as I have swam in an sleeved suit years ago from Pearl Izumi and I hated it. I’ve always rolled the suits down.
This was back in 2012-2013 when sleeved suits were coming out. A local guy who is fast and turned pro also swam in the same suit and hated it. Both of our swim times were off from our normal times. It felt restrictive and slow.
However, the new suits have gotten a lot better. I’m a strong swimmer so I don’t want any restriction on my shoulders. I’ve talked to Roka and they said the sleeved swimskins are very stretchy and won’t hurt your swim stroke.
However, sleeved tri suits were made for bike aerodynamics and preventing sunburn on the run. I don’t think any of the current suits were designed to be swam in and I think that repeated swimming may stretch them out. I could be wrong on this. Roka and other companies offer the sleeved or sleeveless depending on your choice.
I think the demand for sleeved swimskins came from people not wanting to roll it down and deal with it coming out of the water. Most of the pros still roll them down and I don’t think I have seen a pro swimming in a sleeved swim skin. If anyone has can you post pictures?
Thanks for sharing Bryan. Good information. If we get away with a wetsuit it all becomes a non issue and I’ll just roll it down. If we don’t get a wetsuit swim, I’m thinking I’ll probably pull a kit swap in T1. I’ll be down to shorts before I even reach the tent. Cheers
I always roll my suit down for the swim. I had to size down to a small to make it fit really tight on the bike so not good to swim in. You won’t have any issue getting it back up and zipped on the run through t1.
If you’re looking for a swim skin I have one in the classifieds…
You won’t have any issue getting it back up and zipped on the run through t1.
How? I do own a Fusion Speed Suit and there’s no way I can get it on once its wet after the swim. I had to swim with the sleeves on. Would some kind of lubrication help? Am I supposed to apply bodyglide on my arms before the race or what?
I basically used the fusion speed suit just once and then went for the other suit instead, one that I could swim in, because fusion restricted my swimming.
I have never had a problem getting either m Wattie Ink suit or LG Course suit up running to T1. It is very tight but I didn’t find it that difficult. I did practice in the shower and had a system of getting one arm in then the other then zip it up. I am 6 ft 160ish and wear a small suit so it is VERY tight on me.
I’m still not sure if i want to go this route as I have swam in an sleeved suit years ago from Pearl Izumi and I hated it. I’ve always rolled the suits down.
A number of swim last year in my Kiwami Spider sleeved and no issues at all. In fact, at nationals where it was no wetsuit I actually was first out of the water in my AG just in front of a guy who beat me by a couple of minutes the previous year with wetsuits. The Spider sleeves are extremely flexible and there’s no need to swim with it down under a wetsuit.
In the same boat for IMTX, although I still haven’t decided if I’m going with the sleeved one piece or throwing on a sleeved top in T1. I’m not fast enough for it to matter, just want sleeves for sun purposes and don’t care if it takes an extra minute in T1. I did however get an Xterra Valor swimskin as I don’t think I could stand swimming in the sleeves if I go with the one piece. Fairly certain Xterra discount codes are widely available and I got it for ~$120 shipped. Swam in it for the first time Wednesday after finally figuring out my correct size. Don’t know if it makes me any faster, but now I have an option to roll down.
Sounds like I’ll probably just swim in an old LG 1 piece sleeveless I have and change in T1, I can spare the time for a kit swap, though I’ll probably take the kit to the pool beforehand and see how it works out first hand. My whole game for Texas is about the bike and I don’t want to risk stretching out the sleeves even a little. I’m sure in the grand scheme it’s not a game changer and I’m just being an aero-weenie but I’m playing every card I can in an effort to cut through the wind on Hardy.
I’ll just sit back and hope the RD finds the darkest deepest part of the lake to grab that race day temp
If wetsuit legal, I wear my 2xu compression skin suit but keep the zipper open. For me this avoids the hustle to put the skins suit on when wet put provides enough shoulder flexibility so that my swim times don‘t suffer. If no wetsuit is allowed, I go for my €90 swim skin and do exactly as described with my skin suit.
