Reading Dan’s article got me thinking of an Oly race I am doing next month that tends to have a very warm swim. I have a T1 suit and was thinking of doing the swim in just the bottom half. Has anyone out there done this? I really hate overheating on the swim. I wish they would just ban wetsuits unless the water is below 72 degrees. Anybody should be able to swim safely in water that warm don’t ya think?
Mike
I don’t know about swimming in the bibjohn. Go t your nearest pool and try it.
by the way, trisports has the TRES vest on clearance for $75
Oops, I just checked and they only have the size 3 left now.
Mike,
YES!!!
I swim in my T1 bibjohn all the time. I have a tendancy to overheat, so I only wear the top when water temp is an issue. Swimming in just the bottom still gives you the extra bouyancy and keeps you in the proper swim position.
Good luck!
(the other) Mike
If the race is being run in accordance with ITU rules then the answer is No (not sure what USAT rules say but this rule is used in Canada). See Section D.3.2(c) (cut and pasted below) in the Competition Rules document at:
http://www.triathlon.org/rules/index.htm
D.3.2 Illegal Equipment
Athletes must not use:
a) Artificial propulsion devices, (i.e. fins, socks, gloves, paddles, or floatation devices)
b) Wetsuits with thickness exceeding 5mm
c) Wetsuit bottoms only
d) Swimsuits made of material not approved by FINA or ITU in non-wetsuit events.
e) A second swim suit that they remove after the swim in non-wetsuit events.
Mike,
I tried it out and yes you can swim in just the overall or bib john. I was concerned that water would get into the pants and slow me down, but that was not the case.
Regarding Dan’s post on rules, I would argue that the the bottum is similar to the sleeveless models and still has a top which makes it similar to a longjohn model. On DeSoto’s web site they advertise you can swim in just the bottum, Desoto is an excellent company and I would have assumed they checked this with a few tri governing bodies, you may want to e-mail DeSoto and a regional race official to be certain.
Peace,
Rockfish
Interesting thought, but like Rockfish I would agrue since the T1 bibjohn has significant material above the beltline and suspenders that it qualifies as a “sleeveless” suit.
I think it is interesting how the rules say that no flotation devices can be used and yet they allow the use of wetsuits in 78 degree water. The purpose of a wetsuit should be for health reasons, i.e. hypothermia, and that being the case the rules should ban suits in water over 72 degrees not the 78 degrees that it is now. I just did the Gulf Coast Half in 73 degree water with no wetsuit and was totally comfortable. I think too many people use wetsuits as a crutch for weak swimming judging by the near panic of some people the week before the race in regards to what the water temperature would be.
The bibjohn works great by itself, it just looks a little funny.
I don’t really know where they would draw the line. The ITU seems to have gotten pretty picky about this sort of stuff - here’s a link to their new uniform guidelines for this year:
http://www.triathlon.org/updates/2004/march/17mar04.htm#172
Sounds like they’re well on their way to being similar to the UCI!
Regarding the second swim suit rule: I’ve seen pro’s (Bell and Larsen at vineman) wear racing body swimsuits over their tri-suits…and heard many do the same at Hawaii. According to ITU - illegal? What about USAT - anybody know?
Dave