OK, I admit that I'm not that tough when it comes to cold water, but would love some advice. I'm doing a splash 'n dash this weekend in Tempe -- 1500M swim and a 3KM run. The current water temp is 71 and the air temp during the time of the swim will likely be around 65. Most of the people in the race will be triathletes, so I'm assuming they'll be wearing wetsuits. I'm mainly doing the race as a warmup for a 2.4 mile swim in the same lake the following week.
It seems a waste of time to put on a wetsuit only to have to strip it off for a 3KM run ... especially as I'm not a triathlete and therefore not experienced in transitions. Two questions:
Am I being a wimp to think that 71 degrees is too cold to swim without one?
Am I putting myself at a significant disadvantage vs. the wetsuit-clad triathletes to not wear one?
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Former Member
71 degrees is not cold, just go and do it. Plus the looks from those with wetsuits at your non-wetsuit covered body is almost priceless.
I agree with the Animal on this and my opinions on wetsuits are well documented on this site, However that being said. Based on your statement it sounds like your using this as test run for a later race, are you planning on wearing a wetsuit for that race? If so, by all means wear one for this race. Get used to it. If not then go without. Second, in this event are you competitive (a good shot at placing in your age group etc.) and do you want to place? Again if that is an affirmative, I'd lean towards wearing the wetsuit, and by the way, with practice I believe you can get out of it fairly fast. I've seen triathletes train for there run out of the water while simultaneously stripping off the wetsuit. Some were quite fast at it.
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Former Member
71 degrees is not cold, just go and do it. Plus the looks from those with wetsuits at your non-wetsuit covered body is almost priceless.
I agree with the Animal on this and my opinions on wetsuits are well documented on this site, However that being said. Based on your statement it sounds like your using this as test run for a later race, are you planning on wearing a wetsuit for that race? If so, by all means wear one for this race. Get used to it. If not then go without. Second, in this event are you competitive (a good shot at placing in your age group etc.) and do you want to place? Again if that is an affirmative, I'd lean towards wearing the wetsuit, and by the way, with practice I believe you can get out of it fairly fast. I've seen triathletes train for there run out of the water while simultaneously stripping off the wetsuit. Some were quite fast at it.
