General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Wet Suit vs No Wet Suit Rss Feed  
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2006-06-06 3:54 PM

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Subject: Wet Suit vs No Wet Suit
I am a poor swimmer. doing about 10 min for the sprint distance swim. I have always worn a wet suit for my competitions (3 sprints as of last week) mainly for bouyancy as I am worried about getting out there and drowning. I swim practice without the wet suit in pool and can go over a mile without stopping.

June 24 I am doing an Olympic distance 1500 meters. I would like to do it without the wet suit mainly because I have a heck of a time getting good breaths using the wet suit do to the constrictive nature on my chest.

A couple questions, does anyone else have the tightness and difficulty breathing using a wet suit? Does it get better as you get used to it?

The way I see it I can use wet suit and get no breath/oxygen and run out of steam but have bouyancy and a little more speed, or I can lose some speed and bouyancy but have better breath control and maybe have more endurance for my longer race coming up. Any suggestions welcome.


2006-06-06 5:36 PM
in reply to: #445296

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Subject: RE: Wet Suit vs No Wet Suit
A couple questions, does anyone else have the tightness and difficulty breathing using a wet suit? Does it get better as you get used to it?

In reply to your question, Yes it does.  Being a competitive swimmer for about 35 years, and triathlete for 5, I had this same feeling the first 3 or 4 times when I wore my wetsuit.  It took me about 4x of wearing to wear it felt comfortable.  I must ask you, how tight is the chest??  When the suit is wet, it should loosen somewhat around your chest.  if you are more confident wearing your wetsuit in a 1-mile swim, then you should do it.  It will make you more buoyant and about 1.5 to 3 minutes faster also.
2006-06-06 5:50 PM
in reply to: #445296

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Subject: RE: Wet Suit vs No Wet Suit
I haven't ever had difficulty breathing in mine, maybe b/c it's sleeveless. I've done 3 races with 1500m swims this year, wore the wetsuit for 2 of them. It does help keep my legs up especially, so I glide better. The most recent one was WITH wetsuit and my best time so far.
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