I plan on doing the 5K championships without a wetsuit, but I also plan on a non sanctioned 6 mile swim and some other team tri's this summer where I wetsuits are permitted.
I was wondering how much faster a 1000 time would be with a wetsuit. Anyone have good experience or numbers for this?
I may put it on and try a pool 1000 to see what the difference is, but I would like to avoid the test.
I would like to use the wetsuit if it will be faster.
I don't think so because I swam the first almost as a relaxed warm up. The second 1000 I was warmed up and ready to go. I waited about 10 minutes between swims.
If the water is dead calm, I may go with the fast skin. You don't object to that do you? or does it have to be a jammer?
I did notice in the non-wetsuit divisions of the Tiburon Mile even body suits are specifically forbidden. I believe the rule says the suit must not go below the knee or above the hips. By the way, the average water temp in San Francisco bay is in the low 60s.
I've never done that race, but I bet it would be fun. Lots of world class swimmers compete every year.
I've always heard that wetsuit do very little for very good or very bad swimmers but tend to help those who are in the middle.
Personally, I take pride in thumping the wetsuit wearing crowd at races. I try to wear my rattiest Speedo to emphasize it's not the suit but the person. I get very annoyed with the folks to wear a wetsuit if the water is even a half degree below 76.
I was at a race a few years back in a lake that was 88 degrees and one fellow wore a wet suit to "practice for an ironman." He got DQ'ed of course, was a lousy swimmer and had to be fished out halfway through cause he was stewing himself alive.
You don't bring a knife to a gun fight. If you show up to a triathlon that allows them and you are not wearing one, don't expect to be first out of the water if someone with equal pool times is wearing one.
It's a crutch for poor swimmers and sometimes necessary for fast ones to win.
I sense a pool / triathlon rift forming.
I do what makes me faster. I don't let the air out of my tires before a bike race.
USMS DOES allow wetsuits.
It is only at national open water championships and national records that wet suits are excluded from scoring.
303.6.3—Wetsuits may be allowed at the discretion of the meet director. Wetsuits generally provide a competitive advantage. If awards are given to wetsuit competitors they shall be awarded separately from those for non-wetsuit competitors. Any published results or records must clearly indicate which swimmers wore wetsuits.
If you can't swim don't go near the water and you will not drown.
This is contrary to the USMS mission. If you can’t swim… we would love to have you learn! So you can hang out with all the cool Masters Swimmers.
I do what makes me faster. I don't let the air out of my tires before a bike race.
Tires are part of a bike, not an extra add-on to help those who can't ride.
Be a (wo)man, take of your crutch and swim.
It makes you no less of a swimmer....
To serious swimmers it does, provided not used for it's intended purpose - warmth.
By god, if some dude can swim at the North (or was it South) Pole without a suit, then even a subpar doggy paddling novice swimmer can make it a few yards in an 77 degree lake without one.
USMS does not allow wetsuits in OW swimming (to be eligible for records or awards anyhow) for the same reason they do not allow pull buoys in pool competitions, they offer an unfair advantage. In my book, that certainly qualifies as a crutch. Try wearing fins or paddles through an entire Masters practice and see what your teammates think. The word cheater comes to mind.
To serious swimmers it does, provided not used for it's intended purpose - warmth.I guess I must not be a serious swimmer, since the only times I have raced in a wetsuit, I did it for speed not warmth. However by my estimation, in those races, a 30 second improvement (because of the wet suit) was worth a couple of grand in prize money. So I’ll take the money and live with being called a subpar doggy paddling novice.
Personally, I would prefer to not use a wetsuit for speed OR warmth (provided the water temp is over about 47 degrees) , but if wearing wetsuits brings more people into the sport, then I’m all for having wetsuit divisions in races.
