Oh boy…
I’ve swam in so many differnt wetsuits on over the past few weeks I can’t believe it.
Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned:
Putting the suit on incorrectly is the best way to ruin its perfromance and the root of (nearly all) evil. Be sure you get your darn suit on correctly. Few people do. More flexible does not necessarily equal faster, but it may equal *easier to sell. *Here’s what I mean: Traditionally wetsuits are purchased in a store or online and involve a dry land fitting. You try the suit on, if it “feels” OK compared to a couple others you may have tried then maybe you buy that one. People are generally buying by dry land “feel” rather than actual swim performance. Even swimming in an Endless Pool won’t tell you much since you can’t really time your distance/performance very accurately in a swim plume. I have a **feeling **based on swimming in one company’s highest end suit with ultra (or is it Super?) flexible shoulders that more flexible fabrics (including the backing of the neoprene, not necessarily the neoprene itself) flood a heck of a lot faster, fit worse in the water, wind up somewhat baggy unless you buy them really small according to their size chart and generally don’t work that great. My 500 meter time trial test showed them *slower. * The fastest suits I have swam in consistently have been very snug fitting basic full suits without ultra-stretchy panels or any bells and whistles.
Here are some excerpts from the time trials I’ve been doing over the past few weeks at Jack Dunworth (Levagood) pool here in Dearborn in the mornings. It is a beautiful outdoor 50 meter pool.
Time trial protocol: Warm-up with 2 X 500 meters easy, then 500 meters timed- all swimming (including warm-up) done in wetsuit being tested. Only one suit tessted per day (since the darn things are difficult to get on once I’m already wet and I only have about an hour in the morning for my swim workout).
Wetsuit A: 500 meters: 8:41. Note: This was a “partial” (i.e., not full body) wetsuit.
Wetsuit B: 500 meters: 8:39. Note: This was a full wetsuit, 2 piece, sized from size chart.
Wetsuit C: 500 meters: 8:30. Note: Same wetsuit as above, swam with one size smaller top today.
Wetsuit D: 500 meters: 8:23. Note: Wetsuit I’ve raced in before. A “favorite”. Fits well.
Wetsuit E: 500 meters: 8:42. Note: Expensive full suit. I didn’t like the way the shoulders fit.
Wetsuit F: 500 meters: 8:19. Note: Wetsuit claims to have different textile backing that is non-absorbent. Feels stiff.
Not shown above are some zany tests I’ve done with long john suits (more later) and also with a long john wetsuit while wearing the sleeves cut off a full suit (in other words, a “shoulderless full suit”).
A lot of what I’ve done here is to help me decide which suit to use at Ford Ironman Wisconsin. I still haven’t decided…