Hi everyone. My first time with a technical suit. I am 49 yo. 5'4" and about 126 lbs.small chested. Little tummy left over from pregnancies, but in pretty good shape. I got a 25L and a 25 to try. The 25 L is tight everywhere except in the chest, and I have heard they can catch water in the chest. The 25 is tight EVERYWHERE , and kind of painful in the shoulders, and pretty darn tight in the thighs. will it loosen up in the water in the length? right now it is uncomfortable, but I do not have any experience what happens when they get wet, or used a few times.
Thank you so much in advance for any feedback.
Parents
Former Member
My daughter is a college swimmer (also a masters swimmer when she is not in school), just purchasing a technical suit for her final year conference championships. We are very confused about sizing. She is about 5'3", between 115-120 pounds, small build, but muscular due to weightlifting with a broad back. Her measurements are something like 35/36 (due to back width, not bust) - 28 - 34/35.
She typically wears a 28 in a training or polyester suit. She has worn a smaller size in suits for championship meets -- possibly a 24 in an Aquablade. Although the mentality among swimmers is to get the smallest suit possible, I think that's because they assume the manufacturers aren't thinking about this. She would probably agree that the 24 Aquablade is way too small now given the amount of weightlifting she has done.
After trying on various models and sizes in technical suits: FS II Recordbreaker (24, 26), FS II Recordbreaker Kneeskin (25), and FS Pro Recordbreaker (26), she decided she liked the FS Pro Recordbreaker model best (this is the classic suit, no knees/legs at all). However the 26 was incredibly tight. You expect the suit to be difficult to put on, fto be very tight, and for straps to be tight and cut in some -- but this suit also cut deeply into her back and sides, so that there were very prominent bulges above where the suit cut in. This seems counter to the benefit of the suit, which is to compress the body and make you more hydrodynamic.
She was told by some other swimmers and her coach that it sounded like it was too small if the bulges were that big. So we sent it back and she got a 28. The 28 cuts in less, but still cuts in with some bulging. And although she has virtually no rear-end there is very little coverage on the butt.
The size charts are not terribly helpful -- if you can even figure out which chart goes with which suit. On the Speedo site at www.speedousa.com/.../sizeChart.jsp, according to the rep I spoke with, it's the chart at the bottom labeled for girls racing ("FS, FS Pro") that's the relevant chart not the one at the top for "LZR Racer & FS Pro". The sizing for the chart "LZR Racer & FS Pro is not for the regular FS Pro recordbreaker. According to the chart for "FS, FS Pro", if she wears a 28 in an endurance suit, she should be wearing a 24 or 25 in the FS Pro. However the measurements for a 24/25 FS Pro are not the measurements of a woman. (29 - 24 1/2 - 28). The measurements for an FS Pro size 27/28 or 28/29 do seem more in line with her actual measurements. But there is no way she could ever wear a size 34 endurance suit, which the chart indicates.
So the question is -- how small is this suit supposed to be? Should there be any bulges, and if so, how much bulging is acceptable? Should it fully cover the butt? I don't believe it's correct that you should order this suit as many as 4 sizes smaller than a regular suit. I've heard that you should order them true to size. I've also been told that they shouldn't be terribly uncomfortable and to order by bust measurement. If mplease, the original poster, is taller and weighs more than my daughter and is considering a 25, than a 28 can't be right be for daughter... can it?
My daughter is a college swimmer (also a masters swimmer when she is not in school), just purchasing a technical suit for her final year conference championships. We are very confused about sizing. She is about 5'3", between 115-120 pounds, small build, but muscular due to weightlifting with a broad back. Her measurements are something like 35/36 (due to back width, not bust) - 28 - 34/35.
She typically wears a 28 in a training or polyester suit. She has worn a smaller size in suits for championship meets -- possibly a 24 in an Aquablade. Although the mentality among swimmers is to get the smallest suit possible, I think that's because they assume the manufacturers aren't thinking about this. She would probably agree that the 24 Aquablade is way too small now given the amount of weightlifting she has done.
After trying on various models and sizes in technical suits: FS II Recordbreaker (24, 26), FS II Recordbreaker Kneeskin (25), and FS Pro Recordbreaker (26), she decided she liked the FS Pro Recordbreaker model best (this is the classic suit, no knees/legs at all). However the 26 was incredibly tight. You expect the suit to be difficult to put on, fto be very tight, and for straps to be tight and cut in some -- but this suit also cut deeply into her back and sides, so that there were very prominent bulges above where the suit cut in. This seems counter to the benefit of the suit, which is to compress the body and make you more hydrodynamic.
She was told by some other swimmers and her coach that it sounded like it was too small if the bulges were that big. So we sent it back and she got a 28. The 28 cuts in less, but still cuts in with some bulging. And although she has virtually no rear-end there is very little coverage on the butt.
The size charts are not terribly helpful -- if you can even figure out which chart goes with which suit. On the Speedo site at www.speedousa.com/.../sizeChart.jsp, according to the rep I spoke with, it's the chart at the bottom labeled for girls racing ("FS, FS Pro") that's the relevant chart not the one at the top for "LZR Racer & FS Pro". The sizing for the chart "LZR Racer & FS Pro is not for the regular FS Pro recordbreaker. According to the chart for "FS, FS Pro", if she wears a 28 in an endurance suit, she should be wearing a 24 or 25 in the FS Pro. However the measurements for a 24/25 FS Pro are not the measurements of a woman. (29 - 24 1/2 - 28). The measurements for an FS Pro size 27/28 or 28/29 do seem more in line with her actual measurements. But there is no way she could ever wear a size 34 endurance suit, which the chart indicates.
So the question is -- how small is this suit supposed to be? Should there be any bulges, and if so, how much bulging is acceptable? Should it fully cover the butt? I don't believe it's correct that you should order this suit as many as 4 sizes smaller than a regular suit. I've heard that you should order them true to size. I've also been told that they shouldn't be terribly uncomfortable and to order by bust measurement. If mplease, the original poster, is taller and weighs more than my daughter and is considering a 25, than a 28 can't be right be for daughter... can it?
