How did they come up with the 78 degree cutoff for wetsuits? I was thinking about this today as I was suffering in the pool with my wetsuit on. High humidity and sunny with 95 degree heat index made the outdoor pool pretty toasty.
I think 78 is a little high. 75 would be about perfect.
-Colin
Don’t know that answer - a post to the USAT forum might get the real answer, as opposed to a bunch of guesses. As for getting toasted in the outdoor pool in sunny, high humidity, 95 degree heat index temps - what was the pool’s water temperature?
Guessing that it came from swimming rules, which generally specify that 78-80F will be the water temperature for competition.
Right now, my pool is closer to 88F than 78F.
Being a crummy swimmer, I would be upset if I couldn’t use my wet suit in the Chicago Tri. It shaves at least 2 minutes for me on the 750 meter swim. 78 degrees or higher gets my vote. Besides, I don’t go fast enough to overheat.