Non-Tech Competition Suits

I'm interested in what people race in that's not a tech suit. Even the entry tech models would be a waste on my current speed (and my height & shape would be very difficult to fit). It seems like last time I was looking at competition suits (2008ish) when you browsed the major manufacturers you could find tech suits/competition suits/practice suits/fitness suits/recreational suits. It seems like - and I could be wrong here - that manufacturers have taken the competition/practice suits and lumped them all together making it tricky to figure out which fabrics have that great competition tightness & stretch and which suits are going to wrinkle when you bend instead of shrink down. Their descriptions don't seem to be helping me out all that much (This is a great fabric for competition or practice and you can wear it for 300+ hours!). Huh? Maybe I've just been out of the loop and things have improved but I don't ever recall a polyester blend being something I would willingly want to wear for a race. Right now for practice, I have a speedo suit that's made of Endurance Plus (or something like that). I don't mind it for practice but I don't care for it for something I'd want to race in. I thought Nylon/Lycra blends were better for competition suits but they seem to be billing Nylon suits for casual swimmers not competitive swimmers. That doesn't make sense to me except that a Lycra suit won't last as long as a polyester suit. Could you lovely swimmers set me straight on the current swim fabrics? I have always liked the fit of TYR suits on me because of their slightly longer torso (at 6', I need the stretch) but I don't know which fabric to pick or if another brand might have better options. Thanks for your help!
  • I'm a guy, so can't comment on fit, but I typically race in Endurance-like suits (e.g., actually Speedos or TYR Durafast) for all my "non-taper" meets and then have found the TYR Tracer Light to be a great racing suit that is "tech enough" to feel fast but not a wallet buster. Hope that helps.
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 9 years ago
    I'm a 29 yo female masters swimmer. I practice in Dolfin Uglies (grab bag $25ish on SwimOutlet), race in a Speedo Endurance (grab bag $30ish), and at my national champs race in a basic Arena tech suit ($130). As you say, I feel like splurging on a nicer suit isn't worth it with my less-than-enthusiastic training efforts. I figure my in-season results are a direct result of my training habits and I just want something comfortable that will last me a season's worth of meets.