Signed up for my first tri that involves a lake swim where wetsuits are practically mandatory because of the water temperature. Just curious if there is a significant difference in wetsuit buoyancy when swimming in the ocean vs. a lake. I don’t live anywhere near a swimmable lake so I’m wondering what to expect.
doubt you’ll feel a difference in buoyancy. now the lack of waves and a current will be felt.
Saltwater is less dense, so you float higher, but get less additional lift from a wetsuit. That being said, wetsuits today are so bouyant I don’t notice a lake/ocean difference (too small compared to the wetsuit/no wetsuit diff.).
I live in San Fancisco, so we regularly race in both.
My fastest swims have always been in the salt water…
Saltwater is less dense, so you float higher, but get less additional lift from a wetsuit. That being said, wetsuits today are so bouyant I don’t notice a lake/ocean difference (too small compared to the wetsuit/no wetsuit diff.).
It’s gotta be more dense, so that your mass displaces less of it (which is why you float higher). Consider all the additional dissolved solids compared to fresh water… that mass has to go somewhere.
What everybody said… salt water = float higher = go faster
But if the lake is at altitude, your wetsuit will expand and you will also float higher which should be faster - depends on your ability to swim in the thinner air.
actually, i think it’s below sea level. so i guess i’ll sink and drown. thanks for the replies.
The saltier the water the more bouyant
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that i know–i was wonder about the “more” part–i.e. how much more.
Well, this is simple math…
First 1 cu. ft. of fresh water is 62.4 lbs, so if you sunk a 1 cu ft rock into a tub filled to the brim with fresh water, 62.4 lbs of water would spill out. If it were seawater, it’d be 64 lbs that spilled. The rock displaced 1 cu. ft of water. Now we just need to figure how much volume of water you displace in your wetsuit and we can figure out how much that water (fresh or sea) you displaced weighs. Oh crap, this is not all that simple…
ok… on average, seawater is 2.5% heavier than fresh water, sooooo… in fresh water maybe you float 2.5% lower. Or maybe you sink 2.5% faster. I dunno.
Whatever it slows you down, will slow everyone else down the same… sooooo… (shrugs shoulders)
There is a difference. I think a wetsuit in fresh water is about the same as no wetsuit in the ocean. Very similar times for me. And I still sink in a wetsuit in fresh water, but float like a cork in a wetsuit in the ocean.
Ditto x 20 If you have a salt water pool near you. Which they are becoming more and more abundant. Check it out you will definetly notice a difference. First time I swam in one was at a hotel. I thought they just did not clean it and it was everyones sweat I was tasting… ewwwwwww 
I told the manager You guys got to clean your pool it taste like sweat. Then he told me it was a salt water pool. Boy i felt stupid but kind of used to sticking my foot in my mouth.
A salt water pool has a salt concentration of 2500-6000 ppm which is ~6-15 times less than ocean water which has a salt content of 35,000 ppm. If you attribute a faster swim speeds in a salt water pool versus a fresh water pool to the salt, then swim times should be noticeably faster in ocean swims.