While a bodysuit may provide a hydrodynamic advantage over bare skin, I have not yet seen a discussion regarding the additional weight of using a bodysuit. More particularly, water infiltrates the suit and remains within the suit as you swim. That is, water infiltrates the structure of the textile and also gets trapped between the suit and your skin. As you move through the water, the energy you exert also has to move the water within the suit.
Let us look at some basic math: the average body surface area for a man is 1.9 meters squared (this is from an article in Wikipedia on body surface area, BSA), which equals 19,000 cm squared. If an average of only one millimeter of water is trapped by the suit (i.e., within the structure of the textile and between the suit and your body), then a volume of 1,900 cm cubed of water is being pulled along with you.
Given that water has a mass of approximately one gram per cm cubed, this adds 1900 extra grams to your body. This translates to about 4.2 pounds of extra weight that you have to pull through the water.
The question is: would you rather have slightly better hydrodynamics or lesser weight. Personally, I'll go for the lesser weight any day. Your thoughts?
Parents
Former Member
A few comments I've heard about full suits...
They work best when you enter the water dry.
They should fit tight.
An older suit with (with stretchy fabric) can trap water and bog you down.
Wet suits for open water swimming are different because they can trap air.
You can pull on the neck and chest.... and fill them up with air pockets...effectively turning your suit into a buoyancy device.
A few comments I've heard about full suits...
They work best when you enter the water dry.
They should fit tight.
An older suit with (with stretchy fabric) can trap water and bog you down.
Wet suits for open water swimming are different because they can trap air.
You can pull on the neck and chest.... and fill them up with air pockets...effectively turning your suit into a buoyancy device.
