Cathy’s Gear: The Wetsuit

Barb and I spent the weekend together at her son Derrick’s last home baseball game of his college career in mid-May. This gave us an opportunity to get a swimming workout in together and to compare notes of our gear. We are sisters but very different people – as is reflected in our different gear choices! As she’s mentioned in one of her blogs, she went for a shorty. I’ve opted for a Blue Seventy Reaction fully body wetsuit.

In my early wetsuit shopping, I tried some sleeveless suits but I was afraid with my small frame that the arm gaps would let too much water in and weight me down. The Reaction suit has more flexible material in the arms to avoid my other concern of my arms getting tired. Most of the advice that various people gave me was to go for the full suit as a beginner for the buoyancy. In addition, I’m hoping this will just be the first of many triathlons to come and so some may be colder than the 70-75 degree water temperature predicted for my first race. I was concerned that I may get too hot in it, but I tried it in the indoor pool and I was fine.

It was tempting to go for an Xterra suit, which as far as I can tell, can only be purchased online. They advertise the fact that you get a better suit for a lower price because they’ve eliminated the middle man. Since I really had no clue how one should fit and how to get one on, I decided a retail option was the best bet.

I went to a few different stores in Connecticut and New York City. The Wilton Outdoor Sports Center surprisingly let me down. While they had some suits and are usually very knowledgeable, the sales clerks by their own admission “hadn’t been through their training yet” to give me much advice. The sales consultants (I’m purposely giving them much more credit than just being clerks) at both Jack Rabbit and Swim Bike Run (SBR) in New York City were terrific. They each helped me try on 2-3 suits which meant they spent a good full hour with me and pulled and tugged to help me get them on.

I went to Jack Rabbit first and thought perhaps I would go back and rent a suit for a weekend and then either return it or use the rental against the purchase. Then, I heard that SBR has an indoor tread mill pool that I could use to try out potential wetsuits. As long as I purchased the suit, there would be no rental fee for the pool.

The one thing I quickly learned is that my long fingernails are a hazard to the suit! The sales staff warned me to be careful (they will charge you if you damage a suit while trying it on). Some suits are more prone than others to getting nicked (I rejected those – who wants to worry about that during transition time!). I also covered my hands with make shift gloves, although this made getting the suit on all the much harder.

I had pretty much resigned myself to paying full price for a mid-level suit - $300 plus, realizing what mattered most was fit. I was pleasantly surprised when SBR had last year’s model of the Reaction suit, which was on sale so it came in under $300. I also threw in the swim socks to protect my delicate feet during the transition since I seem to have a hard time walking bare feet. I’ve since purchased an O’Neill neoprene bathing cap at swimoutlet.com (it’s nice when you wear extra small and find things in your size on clearance) for warmth during cold ocean swimming.

Swimming for a brief demo in the treadmill pool is one thing but swimming the distance is another matter. I’ve suited up on the pool for my last two swimming lessons. I’m happy for the large changing room with a mirror in the locker room so I can sequester myself for the ordeal of getting the suit on. The $14 I spent on the small bottle of spray on Tri glide seems to be worth it – at least I can get my suit in 20 minutes instead of 30! I do have to wonder though if Pam (I’ve read some swimmers just use that) would work just as well for a fraction of the price – but after spending the bucks on the wetsuit I don’t want to chance an unknown substance on the suit.

I of course get strange looks as I come walking out of the locker room head to toe in a wetsuit! I was hoping I would feel sleeker in the water and go faster. I am definitely more buoyant so my body position is different in the water. My suit is tight, as it’s supposed to be but it didn’t feels too tight. And, the flexible arms aren’t making my arms too tired. But…I’ve found myself getting out of breath. Since there are days in my normal swim suit I get in the zone and swim a ½ mile effortlessly and other days that I feel a bit off kilter, I can’t determine if the wetsuit is causing my angst.

Since I’m less than 2 weeks away from my first triathlon, I’ve decided a dry run in open water is in order. Fortunately, my vacation home on the island of Martha’s Vineyard has an abundance of open water. So, stay tuned for the trial run!