Wetsuit vs. No Wetsuit (OpenWater)

In a previous video, I looked at the wetsuit advantage by swimming 1000 yards in a pool. Today, we’re looking at how that advantage translates to open water.

My theory is that the advantage will be more pronounced since I had trouble with overheating and challenges with the flip turns while wearing a wetsuit in the pool.

Looking at the results, the wetsuit swims were clearly faster in all of the trials. While the open water course was probably a little more than 1000 yards, it was pretty close.

Obviously, when your swimming in open water sighting becomes a much greater factor. On my second wetsuit trial, I took the first corner wide through the lily pads as indicated by the red line. Although that was my fastest swim overall, I know that I lost time there.

In general, I feel like I pushed my self harder on the pool swims because I could see the pace clock. In open water, it’s sometimes a challenge to remain focused and maintain your pace.

So for me, it’s safe to say that the wetsuit is faster. Wearing a wetsuit would probably save me around a minute on a 1.5 Kilometer swim. However, if it’s hot, I might still forgo the wetsuit. Overheating during my pool swims was no fun and would have definitely impacted any subsequent biking or running.