Hi everyone
Longtime lurker here, never posted before but love to read this page for all the great ideas and advice and I'm now at the stage where I have questions!
I used to swim in college and after becoming unhealthy and overweight I've started swimming again and I am really enjoying it. I've now been swimming for 2 years and I've got to the stage where I'm doing meets and I am wearing just an old training speedo.
My question: I am now in the market for a decent swim suit to wear at meets - what would your recommendation be? I've read all the threads about the LZR, B70 etc but frankly I can not afford $200-$400 and they also do not make many of the suits in my size - 38.
A couple of options I've looked at on-line - Speedo Aquablade, Dolphin LTF, TYR Fusion/Aquashift or Aquapel. I can get most of these for between $50-$70. Any great suits I'm missing that would be under $100?
Any recommendations or tips would be most appreciated.
Thanks
and they also do not make many of the suits in my size - 38.
Just as a quick note, depending on how comfortable you are taking some time to get into your suit, you can get a much smaller suit than you train in. For instance, most of the girls I know who train in 34 or 36 probably race in 28/30.
Of the ones you list, I think people have liked the Tyr the best -- the blue one with the diagonal lines across your chest.
I've always loved the high neck FS I body suit I got on ebay (tags attached) for $60 or so. Not sure you can even get the FS I anymore ... But there are good deals on FS IIs as well.
Former Member
I have two of the suits that you mentioned -- the Tyr Aquapel (kneeskin) and the Aquashift (full leg). They are both excellent entry-level suits. Like you, I have just started to do meets and wasn't willing to spend a lot of money on a technical suit. The Speedo Aquablade is a good suit as well, but I find that I get more compression with the Tyr suits so they tend to be faster for me. You can't beat the price -- I'm guessing you are looking at swimoutlet.com? Good luck!
Former Member
The Chinese brand Yingfa will get you into a full body suit for 't know anyone who has compared B70/LZR to Yingfa directly. I am sure they are faster, but not $400 faster for me. They are probably faster then a tech tank, but again, I don't know anyone who has done a direct compare.
I wore Yingfa legskins at Zones, and they did feel faster then briefs.
Former Member
The Aquablade is good. I recommended it for a teammate at Nationals this year (all she had was a poly suit), and she liked it. Swam fast, too.
If you have a swim shop near you, I highly recommend you go there and try on suits to see what will fit you the best. Then you can shop around for that style on the web.
I consider myself to be a more experienced swimmer and I swim in the TYR Aquapel tank. I have tried on the newer ones and the Aquapel fits me the best. It's just a great bonus that it happens to be less expensive (unfortunately discontinued). As someone else mentioned, you do want to go smaller for a racing suit, too.
Former Member
The rules are confusing; however, the way I interpret them is that many of the sale suits in question (i.e., the Tyr Aquapel and Aquashift) were introduced before 9/30/07 so were not required to be submitted for testing and will remain legal for competition. I wouldn't buy one until I checked into it further, but to me it looks like they are OK. The new regulations were meant to limit the buoyancy and the air/water trapping abilities of the tech suits; all the Aquapel and the Aquashift are, are basically glorified girdles.
Thanks everyone - really helpful. I was indeed looking at swim outlet and the other main online stores. I never thought of ebay so I'll check there as well. I'm not sure about a few sizes smaller, I'm already pretty snug in a 38 but I might try one size smaller at a local shop.
Cheers
Tip 201 Which Suit Suits you? More info On Racing Suits &
Even More on Racing Suits might be helpful to you
Though I suggest you click on Womens Full body or Womens
then "SORT BY:"
"PRICE: LOW TO HIGH"
HOPE YOU FIND A FAST AFFORDABLE SOLUTION
ANDE
