Hello all. I have had an unfortunate two months off of training related to surgery for a melanoma excision, (all seems to be clear at this point thankfully) and am getting ready to return to swim/bike/run in just a couple of weeks. My dermatologist was strongly encouraging me to wear some kind of sun protective swim wear that would cover as much of my body as possible (I live in CO and my pool is outdoors) but my initial search for something like that has so far not yielded anything particularly useful in that regard.
I was wondering if anyone on here has used or knows of garments that would fit the bill? Sun protection but not impair swim training? Obviously I could just lather up in sunscreen but it seems that garments are much better.
All of the body suits I’ve seen for sun protection are for casual swimming and definitely slow you down. The extreme solution would be to swim in a cheap wetsuit (ex. lower end Xterra). A more reasonable solution would be finding a low cost sleeves trisuit and using sunscreen for the uncovered portions of your arms/legs. I’ve done this, and the chlorine will kill the suit in a couple months (thus the lower cost suits).
I’ve gone back to using sunscreen (outdoor pool in sunny California). I use the spray from Target; spray into my hands and rub over all the areas I can reach, then use the spray for the rest (ex. upper back).
I live in Tucson and have a family history of skin cancer. Here are some of my thoughts and strategies.
Not all sun is equally bad.
A) Worst- June at noon.
Best- December at sunrise.
B) Worst- high elevation
Best - Sea level
C) Worst - Equator
Best- north pole
D) Worst- Dry sunshine
Best- clouds and humidity
Based on these principal you can make a guess at how damaging a certain amount of unprotected swim time is.
Sun tan lotion works- for about 10 minutes.
Zinc oxide- for about 30 minutes
A swim shirt is great!!
But it doesn’t protect the neck!!
Me:
Between 9:30 am - 3:30 pm March- October:
I wear swim shirt and apply Zinc suntan lotion every 45 minutes to my neck.
(I plan speed work for other times of day).
The rest of the year, I am cautious but don’t follow any set rules.
IF I LIVED in CO, NM or UT- I would follow the same procedures but use 8:30 - 4:30 time window for shirt and zinc.
Tight rashguard for top, full sleeve.
Tights for lower body and legs.
Yes, they will slow you down in the water, like 6+ sec/100, but it’s probably worth it for you to not get skin cancer again.
Head and neck are challenging. Swim cap for the noggin.
MINERAL sunscreen for head and neck, and REAPPLY in your case every 20 minutes, despite the manufacturer saying it’s good for 90. You need max protection. Make sure you have a towel to dry your neck and face before reapplication. Badger brand sunscreen is super thick, and works very well.
And still:
It’s worth seeing if you can find an indoor pool given your hx of skin cancer.
Early morning or evening post-sundown swim timing is best if possible.
I would actually avoid peak noon-2PM sun in summer for swimming given your history.
I want to argue against extremist views.
The sun is four times more damaging at noon than it as it is at 6.
10 minutes at noon = 1 hr in the late afternoons or early morning
It’s probably unhealthy to get no sunshine at all.
I want to argue against extremist views.
The sun is four times more damaging at noon than it as it is at 6.
10 minutes at noon = 1 hr in the late afternoons or early morning
It’s probably unhealthy to get no sunshine at all.
Isn’t this the exact point I was making? Avoiding noon sun?
I’ve had the same issue with a BCC right in the middle of my back where I thought I was applying sunscreen but apparently not. I now swim in an old sleeveless tri suit and use 50+ sunscreen on all exposed skin. The trisuit is a bit tighter and holds less water than a rash guard.
I want to argue against extremist views.
The sun is four times more damaging at noon than it as it is at 6.
10 minutes at noon = 1 hr in the late afternoons or early morning
It’s probably unhealthy to get no sunshine at all.
Isn’t this the exact point I was making? Avoiding noon sun?
I’ll second the idea of wearing a tight, long-sleeved rash guard for the top and tights for your legs. You can usually find rash guards and leg tights that offer spa protection.
Then wear a skin suit over all of it, to lessen the drag. (Yes, you could just use a full wetsuit, as one poster suggested, but that sometimes gets too hot when swimming hard in a pool). The rash guard, leg tights and skin suit combo will allow you to swim at almost your “normal” swim speed.
For the back of the neck and your face, I’d suggest using Surf Mud (a zone sunscreen from Australia that you can order on the internet). If your long sleeved rash guard isn’t long enough to cover your wrist area (something that happens when you get a rash guard that is small enough that it remains tighten your arms), you can use the Surf Mud on your wrists (and back of the hands, too).
All this adds up to a bit of an expanse, especially because over time the chlorine will tend to cause the rash guard, skin suit and tights to deteriorate and/or stretch out, but its better than skin cancer IMO. Good luck.
