I am looking for advice on what style and make of wetsuit to buy for the upcoming year. I have only been doing sprint and olympic distances in or near san diego and have not worn wetsuits. I will be doing the Superfrog (san diego-HIM) in Mar, Vineman HIM in sonoma, Ca. in JUL, and Kentucky IM in Aug.
Do I need different styles of wetsuits for these upcoming races?
Any race specific advice from personal experience for these upcoming races?
I keep hearing that now is a good time to buy the 2008 wetsuits but I am not familiar with all of the tri sites.
What are the best sites for tri suits?
Who has the best deals on wetsuits (closeouts) right now?
The fit is the biggest priority when getting a wetsuit. If it does not fit, it can make your feel like you have a straightjack on. Go to Nytro which has a good selection of wetsuits.
You can get a good deal on 2008 models but the most retailers only have a handful of sizes so that maybe an issue.
The water is cold here, how can you not use a wetsuit? IM KY is a non wetsuit event.
Former Navy SEAL(class 151) so I sort of got used to the “water here.”
When I started doing short triathlons a year ago I figured it would save time in transitions to not have them-which actually worked well. But now I have longer races, I am a little bit older than my special warfare days, plus I could use the extra float-my legs like to sink(yes-I am working on the technique to fix that!)
Kentucky- non wetsuit because of rules or just not needed?
For IM KY, the water is warm so no wetsuit because the rules state that if above a cetain temp, then no wetsuit. But for IM KY, you can get one of these which are legal:
You know the SD water temp for Superfrog will be cool/cold. Kentucky I know nothing about. Vineman 70.3 I raced last year. The water was warm 70’s. I swam it in a DeSoto speedtube bottom and top. Still kinda warm but I need the extra help. I plan on going with the same set up for VM full this year…if it’s wet suit legal.
I doubt you will ever see a time when IM Louisville is wetsuit legal if they keep the date in August. It is just way to hot here that time of year. You would over heat.