It seems like most wetsuits emphasize extra buoyancy in the legs, since triathletes tend to have lean, heavy legs. I have the opposite problem: I am naturally crazy-buoyant. The wetsuits I've used in the past make my legs ride too high so that I end up swimming with a strongly arched back. This screws up my body position and I end up with a back ache. At the same time, I am a cold-water weenie so I still want the warmth of a full-sleeve wetsuit.
I've spent the past couple of hours looking at various reviews sites, including the Swimmer wetsuit review videos. I've noticed that some people distinguish "swimmer" wetsuits from "triathlon" wetsuits.
Does anyone else have this issue? Any recommendations?
I can't answer the question directly, but I do recall that Swimmer magazine reviews do address which wetsuits have more verses less buoyancy in the legs. I vaguely remember the article from a year or two ago rather than the recent one really addressing this. I also know a woman who doesn't like below knee wetsuit legs because she does her entire Iron distance tri *** stroke. She cut off the legs with heavy duty scissors and it seemed to work for her although not sure I would do that to an expensive suit
Thanks, MSK. I think I remember one of the testers in a Swimmer review mentioning triathlete vs. swimmer in his comments. I'll have to go back and look at the videos again. Making my own shorty by cutting off the legs of a full-sleeve suit is a possibility -- though I'd definitely try it with one of my old, ratty wetsuits first!
Kick harder (or at all) and your buoyancy/arched back problem will go away. It is not the wetsuit, they are all buoyant to the extent of the thickness of the sponge. Or just cut off the legs. No problems, only solutions!
Also, double check your form to make sure you are using your core when you swim. When I started training more in open water, I had lower back problems on long straight swims, with or without wetsuit. Eventually, I realized the problem wasn't building up to the distance, it was that I wasn't activating my core at the longer relaxed pace like I was at pool paces. Once I stopped being "lazy", all the lower back issues on those long swims went away.
You can find wetsuits that cater more to swimmers than triathletes, though. Look for lower thickness in the legs. All the OW swimmers on my team (8 of us) swear by various models of BlueSeventy suits. But there are other models and brands that have similar features.
Thanks for the suggestion. My coach only recently convinced me to breathe every other stroke rather than every third, so this may be the season for a complete technique overhaul!
