Hi!
Approaching a half-ironman distance race next weekend, and it seems to be a non-wetsuit swim. Is it worth the effort to wear a swimsuit or should I skip it? Time loss in the water compared to getting the suit off in T1 is what I’m thinking about… I’m typically around 30min for the half-IM swim.
/CE
Hi! Approaching a half-ironman distance race next weekend, and it seems to be a non-wetsuit swim. Is it worth the effort to wear a swimsuit or should I skip it? Time loss in the water compared to getting the suit off in T1 is what I’m thinking about… I’m typically around 30min for the half-IM swim.
/CE
Go old-school and rock a Speedo brief for the whole race:)!!!
Pretty sure not wearing a swimsuit would get you put on one of those lists…
You’re on the right track figuring time saved vs. time spent removing it.
How long does it take you to remove the swim skin? Maybe 10, 15 seconds? That’s the minimum amount of time you’d need to gain by wearing the swim skin to “go faster.” Now how much faster will the swim skin make you? For athletes in the 30 min range, 2-3 sec/100y seems to be about right, which works out to 40-60 sec over 1.2 mi. That’s just if you’re swimming in clear water too. If wearing the swim skin lets you latch onto some faster feet than you otherwise would have, then you will probably gain even more time. The crazy thing is that unless you’re really slow at taking it off (>15 sec) the breakeven swim distance is ~500yd (i.e it’s even advantageous to wear one in a sprint tri).
Yeah, I was a bit surprised to see pictures of pros at the Boulder 5i50 wearing swimskins, so I did the maths… Guess my new swimskin will get a lot more use, then!
Why is your trisuit that slow? It should fit tight for aerodynamics as well as swimming.
That being said, a swim skin, if you feel that 10-15 seconds NET savings is worth it, as most of your “A” races are non-west suit, is probably worth the investment. For me, it’s not, as I rarely do non-ws open water swims and never had one that’s an “A” race.
Word of warning… while rare, I’ve also seen a guy struggle for 40 seconds because his zipper got jammed. Took him right out on an Olympic race. Sometimes simple is good. FOr non-ws races, I think the best option is one ofhte more technical swim skin-ish 1 piece trisuits like Kiwami or Desoto that are about 90% as good as a swim skin without that fuss, but still breath well for hot races. Rear zip even better for short course.
My Tri suit isn’t slow–we’re talking about someone else here. I race a Kiwami. My Kiwami or a swim skin vs a 2 piece Tri kit is probably pretty easily 2 to 3 sec/100yd. Water tugs a lot harder on the suit than the air–plenty of suits will fit tightly enough in the air but not in the water. There is also a shape difference ( I.e prone swimming position vs hunched TT position).
My Tri suit isn’t slow–we’re talking about someone else here. I race a Kiwami. My Kiwami or a swim skin vs a 2 piece Tri kit is probably pretty easily 2 to 3 sec/100yd. Water tugs a lot harder on the suit than the air–plenty of suits will fit tightly enough in the air but not in the water. There is also a shape difference ( I.e prone swimming position vs hunched TT position).
I was talking about the OP. I’d be surprised if it’s 2-3 sec for the faster guys…but hell, maybe I’m giving up a lot of time and don’t realize it.
I was thinking maybe he had the “average” 2 piece tri kit that from what I’ve seen is probably 1 size too big and fits pretty loose.
Yeah! I would love to do that, but I have such extreme tan lines (like a pro cyclist) on my legs so it would look like a joke! 
/CE
Rock the board shorts!
Honestly if you mean a swim skin over your tri suit I would say yes. If you mean jammers, then change into tri suit during T1 I would not recommend that plan.
Just to end the story… I ment a swim skin… The water temperature didn’t allow wetsuits and I went with the swim skin. The time loss in T1 was small, the swim skin came of ealisy so it definitely improved my overall time.
/CE