Here is the 1st of a series of tests i will be doing on swim skins and what i think about their place in our sport. I tested the two TYR suits here in this installment, and was a little shocked at the results. One thing i forgot to talk about in the test was stroke counts. In the Torque Pro(top of the line) i took one full less stroke per 25 yards, going from 16 to 15. In the Torque Elite(middle range suit) it was about a 3/4 less stroke per lap, so i would glide just a bit to take advantage of that, and later when i was a little tired just chop it off early before the turn. Feel free to comment on any of your experiences.
I’m going to test every suit that i can get my hands on. I have a Zoot Speedzoot 2.0 waiting for me at home, and i should have the top of the line aqua sphere(Energize suit) this week too. I definitely want to test the blue seventy, as i see a lot of them at races and on pros. I will use these threads here to hear from you guys what suits you think are worthy of testing, or that you might be interested in…
I provided a link to these first two suits, and it has all the costs, materials, specs, etc. As for how long they last, i just made a guess in the article which one i think will last longer, but i really have no idea how many swims each will get. I would not work out every day in them for sure, and my guess that top of the line suits should last 2 or 3 seasons, depending how much you race and if you take care of them.
I do know that the jammers i race in in masters swimming will last me 3 to 5 meets, and each meet is 2 to 3 days long with 5 to 10 events at each. I believe they use similar materials for those and the cheaper suit, the top line suit seems to be a bit more than FINA allows, and seems tougher…
I have been totally sceptical of the gains thinking they would barely be in the tenth’s of seconds per 100m…but your article suggests that they are saving around the same as a wetsuit but achieve it not though floatation but just due to hydrodynamics.
By the way, you should also do the tests with only jammers underneath and then with trishorts and a race top underneath. I’d be interested to see the delta with all that “racing fabric” underneath. I would think it would be different, because the new suits do let water in (vs rubberized suits).
Dev, i did these tests with the jammers underneath so that i could have very little transition time an rest in-between. You can ask dan, i’m one of those guys that once i get into a groove on some pace, i can hit it almost exactly every 100 until i blow. I really do not think if i had a tri top on that it would matter much at all, as long as it fit right and was not some cotton garnet…
Here is the 1st of a series of tests i will be doing on swim skins and what i think about their place in our sport. I tested the two TYR suits here in this installment, and was a little shocked at the results. One thing i forgot to talk about in the test was stroke counts. In the Torque Pro(top of the line) i took one full less stroke per 25 yards, going from 16 to 15. In the Torque Elite(middle range suit) it was about a 3/4 less stroke per lap, so i would glide just a bit to take advantage of that, and later when i was a little tired just chop it off early before the turn. Feel free to comment on any of your experiences.
Interesting topic and test. I have never had reason to wear a swim skin in IM … but even with my slowness was able to do Kona this year … and wear a blue seventy swim skin … along with dozens of others. I do believe I swam better in it, but your test will be interesting. What I did find was that fitting it on is important for 2.4 miles as chafing at the shoulder straps and under the armpits was a problem that I fixed by being sure to pull the suit up fully on my shoulders like a wetsuit and using glide lubricant on the shoulder strap and on the underarm cutout … then it became very comfortable. It certainly doesn’t seem to float you much … it just glides better from my sense of feel. Anyway … for what its worth … others probably have much more experience!
Are you going to test any of the suits that are made for doing the whole race in? I think there was the Liftfoil from DeSoto. //
Ya, i plan to do some tests on those too after the swim skins. They really are two different categories, but i know a lot of folks like to just use one suit for everything, so it should be explored…
I have been totally sceptical of the gains thinking they would barely be in the tenth’s of seconds per 100m…but your article suggests that they are saving around the same as a wetsuit but achieve it not though floatation but just due to hydrodynamics. //
Not really dev. Wetsuit gains are at the minimum double for fast swimmers, and more so for slower swimmers. Like i said in the article, a guy that is pushing 10 seconds a 100 in a swim skin, would be getting 20 to 25 seconds in a wetsuit. I get about 7 to 8 seconds a 100 in my T1, got 9 seconds in my water rover(now extinct). And i believe that the longer you swim the more advantage the wetsuit will be, since it will not get water logged and really keeps you on top of the water. So i would never substitute one of the skins for a wetsuit, but would most definitely use them in non wetsuit races…
The fit should be as tight as you can handle, notice pool swimmers and how tight then wear their suits. Sounds like you got a good fit. Obviously we won’t be able to wear our suits as tight, as we are swimming longer distances for the most part. But still as tight as you can handle without restricting your movement or breathing. The compressive nature of most of the materials used today in textiles suits, does not stretch much. Keep that in mind.
Chaffing can happen with a suit that fits like this. Body glide can help to solve that issue.
These new suits don’t provide any buoyancy at all. The textile material helps provide a smooth surface for the water to slide right off. The drag coefficient is quite a bit lower with a speed suit, even with your tri kit on.
I would say that Monty hit it right in the sweet spot with this test. A conservative guess for these suits is 2-5 seconds per 100m. That doesn’t apply to everyone, but just about everyone will see at least that gain.
We’re excited to see how the suits stack up against each other.
Monty, very nice write up.
Personally, I have tried the following 2nd generation (textile, not neoprene) suits: PZ3TX, TYR Elite, TYR Torque, Zoot Speedzoot. I currently use just the Zoot. IMO, they all are just as fast as each other, I just like the fit of the Zoot best. I found that I got badly chaffed in the armpit areas even with BodyGlide applied when using the others.
I am very interested in the Xterra, and HUUB suits, but haven’t gotten them to test out yet.