Masters swimming has decided on the Fastest Suit

One of our teammates has one (legs)... he wore it for 3 swims at LCM Nationals. Wore for one event at Rutgers and said the suit was already stretched out and switched to his FSII. after 4 swims... ouch! I have not experienced that ... swam 4 events in the B70 three weeks ago and then did 8 this weekend plus warmdowns and keeping it on between races. I also did one workout in it. No apparent difference in feel. Based upon Dean from B70's comment about this being a 25 swim suit, my plan is probably to use it for 3 to 4 'big meets' and then wrap-up a year in it with an open water swim like La Jolla. I'll still most likely wear plain lycra jammers in any meets I'm not trying to peak for. I know these things are expensive when compared to a lot of normal suits (but not the LZR), but all I have to do to convince myself it's a bargain is talk with my triathlete friends about the dough they dump into their sport.

Kirk, Get the 28. I'm a little over 6' and 170. I got a 26 which is fine for girth, but feels just a bit too short for me. It bothers my trap muscles if I'm in it for more than a couple of minutes. I do think the suit is a bit faster than the previous generation of body suits based on my swims last weekend.

Don't tell Fort but I might try to do a little more fin work to develop some strength/explosiveness Saw that Stevenson! Can the quads really get any stronger though? lol

Ande, what size is your Nero? I'm thinking about buying one in a size 28. I'm about 6'2" and 185. Do you think that would be the correct size? The sizing guidelines on their website suggest I'm too tall for a 26. Kirk, I'm 6'4" and was swimming at about 188/190 this past weekend (though am probably up to 195 already after two days of wine & burgers on my break) in a B70 size 30. The suit fits very well, but I do think I might consider a 28 for my next buy as it's quite easy to get on. I think the height matters more than the weight and that these tend to stretch fairly well.

6 foot, 192 lbs in a 28. It was very tight getting it on the first time and for about the first 4 or 5 races. It's relatively easy to get on now (has about 30 races) and in very good shape. I don't know if I could have tolerated the tightness of a 26 until it stretched but now I suspect it would have eventually stretched to the point of being comfortable but that may be somewhere in the range of ten plus races. I think a few more swims for Rich and his will have relaxed as well to not impede the traps.

Kirk, I don't know about Ande's suit size but I suspect a 26 would work well for you. I am about your size (6' 2" and 190) and I wear a 26. It's tight but not constricting. See Fort, I TOLD you he wasn't shorter than me, you're just trying to push my buttons... Kirk, about the fit: you might want to try a local tri store. The one near me didn't have any Nero Comps or 10Ks but they did have a number of the pointzero3s in stock -- their main difference is more room in the legs (b/c they assume you are wearing bike shorts under them) but they are still a good way to get some idea of dimensions. Don't just go by height/weight. I am only 5'10", 175, but I wear a 28. The 26 just cut too much into my shoulders and lats, and I'm kind of wimpy about it. A lot depends on your body type -- I have a long torso and short legs so I have to size up and get kneeskins.

I have not experienced that ... swam 4 events in the B70 three weeks ago and then did 8 this weekend plus warmdowns and keeping it on between races. I also did one workout in it. No apparent difference in feel. I think Peg was referring to LZR legskins that got stretched out. As far as I know, B70 doesn't sell legskins only, just body suits. I'm currently at the stated limit for my B70. I think it is noticeably stretchier than when I first bought it but I don't think it is ineffective. I plan on swimming in two non-taper fast meets and I'll wear the suit in at least one of them, maybe both; then I'll buy a new one for nationals. But I'm thinking of giving the XTerra version a try.

I think Peg was referring to LZR legskins that got stretched out. As far as I know, B70 doesn't sell legskins only, just body suits. I'm currently at the stated limit for my B70. I think it is noticeably stretchier than when I first bought it but I don't think it is ineffective. I plan on swimming in two non-taper fast meets and I'll wear the suit in at least one of them, maybe both; then I'll buy a new one for nationals. But I'm thinking of giving the XTerra version a try. My B70 is at 20 swims or so. It's much easier to get into than it first was. But I don't notice any real diminution in effectiveness. No ripping or pulling in any of the seams yet either, and I've heard reports of that happening. Perhaps that's because people ignore height restrictions on the suit or order it too small? I'll definitely never buy a LZR. I might try an XTerra as well though.

55.90 wow chris that's fast congratulations ande Sure, why not? It is virtually the same suit. As Patrick noted, I wore a knee-length version of the suit. I actually have the Nero 10K (the OW version). The only difference between it and the Nero Comp is the zipper: the Comp version is more aerodynamic (and, I was told, more prone to failure though I've never seen it happen). The 10k was something like $40 cheaper at the time and I didn't feel like paying $40 for a zipper. I did a little experiment. Saturday night I led off a 400 medley relay wearing jammers and a regular latex cap. I went 57.73. A respectable time, about 0.3 seconds slower than I did last year (wearing a FSII, which I don't think is faster than jammers for me). Oh, I was shaved too (arms/legs/torso). I did this to get some approximate idea of the effect of the suits since I was slated to swim that event the next day in the morning against Mike Ross. I was a little more motivated for that race, to say the least, and planned to wear the B70 and a silicone cap. Since the leadoff swim was 7:30 at night (based on recent prelim/finals meets, I seem to swim about 0.5-1.0 sec slower at night), was after three events (200 fly, 50 back, 200 back) and was without any competition (or even much warmup), I decided ahead of time that I would need to drop more than 1.0 second from this time for me to consider the effect of the suit significant. I went 1.8 seconds faster (55.90), so from this VERY crude expt I would consider the "enhancement" on the order of 0.5-1.0 second for the 100 SCM back (an event where I spend half the time underwater). I freely admit this is just an educated guess, based on my experience and assessing how much faster I thought I would go when less tired and more motivated the next day: I expected to break 57 and instead I broke 56. In the spring I'll do some more expts (at a trials/finals meet), just thought I'd share. By the way, this is the fourth meet I've worn this suit, I suppose it might be approaching the end of its life though I don't really notice it. (Maybe it is a little easier to get on than before, I suppose.) One last thing: it is MUCH more comfortable wearing the B70 in an indoor meet in cold weather, compared to wearing it last summer at LCM nationals.

55.90 wow chris that's fast congratulations ande Thanks, Ande; to be honest, I was shocked too, I didn't think I had that kind of swim in me. I really think that a greater emphasis on hard SDK in practice has made a difference in all my events (obviously backstroke the most). Makes sense, since that accounts for at least half the race and yet not nearly that proportion of time in practice. I think I'll put even more time into it in the coming SCY season. Plus it may well be that the effect of having a good SDK is further amplified by the newer suits. (I sort of suspect this is their main effect, more than buoyancy -- at least for me. I don't think the suits helped my fly as much as my back.) I wish I could reciprocate and congratulate you on your swims but, although the LB meet looks great, they seem to be the slowest out of the gate in posting results (at least compared to the Rutgers and Chicago meets).