does a speed suit offer bouency or does it just make you faster if you are already a good swimmer. with wetsuit…my avg im swim time is 1hr20min so i really need bouency…
any opionions would help since i need to buy this soon if it is going to help if there is no wetsuits allowed at imlou!
thanks
my understanding is it does not offer bouyancy but has lower resistance than skin or other materials. I ordered a Blueseventy Pointzero 3 this morning for IMlou.
just spent $200 and bought one. i sure hope i can wear a regular wetsuit but this is just a backup plan!
I’ve used the speedo fastskin (full body) for masters racing and I do notice a bit of buoyancy in the suit at first - but certainly not enough to take seconds off per hundred. According to every thing I read about the fastskin type suits - the main benefit is the muscle compression when coming off the wall – keeping your muscles from jiggling at the fastest point of a swim race makes a difference. The sharkskin concept works, but it is more likely measureable in fractions of seconds (per 100m). I used it for a 5km open water a few weeks ago and wished I hadn’t - didn’t really have any noticable effects at open water race speeds. My rationale for wearing it was for warmth rather than for speed. In fact, the thing cut me up quite a bit - from the shoulder straps. Next time I’d probably stick to the legskin or even jammers.
even if wetsuits are permited, I think I’m going to pass on wearing one. The water is going to be pretty warm and I fear over heating in one and putting myself into hydration debt. Thus my rationale for the speedsuit. On the other speedsuit thread posters were commenting on being faster in them compared to a tri suit or going topless.
The suits are faster - when I got the fastskin, I PR’d every distance I raced. Which isn’t saying much since this was my first year masters racing. But I don’t think it was even worth 10 seconds on the 1500m.
It will certainly be faster than swimming in a long-course tri-suit with pockets, etc. So, that is one advantage for HIM racing, where you are not going into a change tent. For Ironman, it just feels nice, but probably isn’t much faster than a regular swimsuit. The BlueSeventy PZ3 is what I use, but that is a swim-only suit that probably pushes the envelope on being legally buoyant (but it is). You certainly won’t notice the buoyancy as you would with a wetsuit, but you will be faster. Most of the other swim skins work by slightly increasing your buoyancy by trapping air (watch some of the underwater video of Phelps, etc and see all the bubbles attached to the suit). This provides a very minimal amount of buoyancy, but when WR are set by 100’s of a second, that amount matters. But, in terms of long course racing, it is probably a wash. The DeSoto Liftfoil is another option, as that is meant as a swim skin, but is also very raceable (though probably not for ironman). Perhaps Emilio can chime in with more about the fabric, as I know it is different from Fastskin, etc., but I imagine it works similarly - traps air and is very smooth.
**According to every thing I read about the fastskin type suits - the main benefit is the muscle compression when coming off the wall – keeping your muscles from jiggling at the fastest point of a swim race makes a difference. **
That may be true but there is also a bit of a disinformation campaign going on in the marketing materials for these suits as well. Under regular swimming competition rules, you are not allowed to wear anything that artificially increases bouyancy. When speedo first came out with the fastskin, they had to get it approved by FINA. They went to great lengths to dispel any hint that it might be increasing bouyancy. However, if you ever watch any underwater film of anyone swimming in one, the suit is almost entirely covered by the silver sheen air trapped on its surface. Rumor on the pool deck is that the fastskin is faster mostly because of this air bubble. That’s one of the reasons swimmers throw them away after 3 or 4 races, the little hairs in the fabric stop catching air. Speedo can’t admit it because if they do, the suit will be banned. While this air bubble probably is not going to help a triathlete make up for the lack of a wetsuit, if you’re swimming a 200m free in international competition, that relatively small amount of air trapped on the surface of the suit might make you a couple tenths of second faster which can be the difference of several finishing spots.