So I’ve signed up for the Brighton Triathlon in September ’24, where the swim is held in the sea.  I’ve been told I’ll need wet suit to swim over the winter, and I know bugger all about them, can anyone make any recommendations?  Would I need a winter specific one to keep me warm?  Any websites to recommend?

All advice gratefully received!

When I was looking to buy one a couple of years ago I was going to get this one:

Prime Triathlon and Swimming Wetsuit – Male

Then everything stopped and I never got back into tri’s…..Maybe one day, when I’m not as fat…..

They have some ex rentals on there for £80 as well!

Not many folks do open water swimming over winter, particularly in the sea as most swim training is done in a pool, but it depends on where you are and who you’re training with. May be worth waiting until spring, as a winter of swimming and triathlon training may have altered your body shape a bit.

+1 don’t bother with a wetsuit yet just get in a pool.

Wetsuits likely to be optional for the event itself anyway.

So… my 1st question is whether this is a ‘one and done’ tri, or are you likely to do more, or longer etc.

You’re correct the swim will almost certainly be wetsuit-compulsory.  There’s some rules in Tri for when the swim distance has to be cancelled/ reduced, and whether wetsuit compulsory or optional or defo non-wetsuit (which vary slightly on race distance). But given likely temps it will fall into the wetsuit compulsory band.

In general, you sort of get what you pay for (though the vv top end ones can be a tad more fragile and also not necessarily the best for inexperienced swimmers.)

Compared to a surf wetsuit, the tri/swim wetsuits are ‘smooth skinned’ (not cloth faced). As that’s faster.

The more pricey suits use multi thicknesses of neoprene, sometimes using thicker on the legs (lifts legs as most tri athletes come from bike and run backgrounds and tend to have sinky legs- especially if not practiced in keeping them up (core strength !!!). And thinner + more flexi on the back and shoulders + side of torso and arms – ie where most stretch is required. That’s where *GENERALLY* More £££ = more flex (more expensive neoprenes).

Max permitted thickness in Tri is 5mm.

As an example I have an Orca “3.8” model wetsuit. It’s got 5mm  on the legs, 3mm on the front body, 2mm on the arms + shoulders and body sides (for max flex)

Some good swimmers who come from a youth swim.club background often prefer wetsuits without the 5mm legs as they can be too bouyant.

But absolutely #1 priority is the fit.

If too small it’s restrictive, too big iw’ll wash water in on each stroke so both slows you down and fails to trap water to enable you to stay warm.

Other places to look is HUUB – who are Derby based. They often have ex demo / ex repair suits on sale online. Could be perfect timing for that.

Final thing – get the suit fully wet, then dry again a couple of days before the race. It will be more stretchy + flexi the 2nd time.

And if you have any ethics… TriUK is a Mike cAshley place, so I’d not personally touch them with a barge pole.

Enjoy !!

Sea temp will be at it’s highest in September: https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/united-kingdom/brighton.htm

So you don’t need winter one, just standard.

And if you’ve any more Qs about triathlon, post and I’ll try to answer (I’ve a reasonable amount of Tri and Open Water experience an over the past 10+ years, although at the ‘making up the numbers’ middle/ back part of the race, not the pointy end.  Though I’m not too shabby a OW swimmer)

I knew STW would come through!  I’m definitely going to do Pool swims too (I have an open air one 5 mins walk away though that’s closed from November to May).

Also keen to do more sea swimming, so don’t plan on it being a one and done.  However kids and work are likely to mean this unlikely to happen more than once a week.

Will avoid TriUK with the Ashley insight.

Is it worth getting a dryrobe sort of thing?  Any dry bag recommendations?

I did my first tri back in June. Bought a £50 ish ‘triathlon’ wetsuit off the wiggle eBay outlet with a small tear that I repaired with some neoprene glue. It was perfectly good enough though my swimming is below average at best so a keener swimmer may prefer something better or differently fitted.

The Lomo wetsuit would be great.

Definitely get a Dryrobe(alike).

The other thing is, if swimming isn’t your strongest sport then a wetsuit will definitely help – compulsory or not.

FWIW I got a Wiggle DHB one quite a few years ago, and it’s been more than good enough for my mid-pack pretensions.

I was going to type up some advice but what robertajobb wrote sums it up perfectly. Getting a good fit is everything and while one brand may fit someone else perfectly another may be better for you. Try some on, or order a few different ones online. Took me about six or seven attempts to get something I was happy with.

As for the changing robes they have become a bit of a cliche but I absolutely love mine (a Charlie McLeod one). I often joke about getting wrapped up in it being better than the actual swim; one of those jokes that has a fair bit of truth about it. Similar to the joke MrsKenny makes about me expending more calories getting in and out of my wetsuit (not a pretty sight apparently) than I do swimming.

If you are going to swim over the winter (and you’ll love it) I’d recommend warm gloves and boots. I’ve found the Lomo ones to be brilliant, a total game changer in terms of how long I can spend in the water.

Oh and don’t forget to cal it “wild swimming”.  A coupe of pals and I have an “In my day” sweepstake. You refer to “wild swimming” on a forum and bet how long it will be before someone replies saying “In my day it was just called swimming”. Great fun.

I’m back of the pack swim wise and not at all confident open water (i do enjoy it but a fear of fish limits my ability!)

I found the extra leg buoyancy from a wetsuit (Orca Equipe) improves my stroke sufficiently that i’m as fast in the sea as i am in a 50m pool. If i was halfway competent i’d be much faster

+1 don’t bother with a wetsuit yet just get in a pool.

Hhmm. Yes, that’s good advice, providing you aren’t on a budget as pool swimming racks up but OW is free. That said, you need more than a wetsuit to swim in open water in winter, you’ll need a hat, or maybe hood, and gloves and socks. And possibly two wetsuits – a thick one and a thin one.

But the main issue is that pool swimming is different. The wetsuit makes you really buoyant, so much so that you don’t need to use your legs and in fact it is probably advisable not to use them much. But in a pool you need them and for me at least the extra oxygen demand makes your breathing a lot harder. So you really want one or possibly two pull floats, those figure 8 shaped ones that go between your legs. This simulates wetsuit swimming quite nicely. You can do half your swimming like that, or even most of it, if you are looking at a tri. Not only do you not need legs for swimming in a tri but not using them can save them for the bike ride and the run. Do start kicking just before the end of the swim though as you’ll need to get the blood flowing.

DryRobe.

For the actual event… you’ll not have time to use it !  But for general changing, before and after swims etc… I think mine is great. Its one of those products I dithered about buying (as not cheap) for years….then after having it, wished I’d got it years before. It is regularly used, as I swim all year round (my local open air pool is spring fed so still acceptably temperate even in January).  But do look at a couple of looky-likey ones too. Swimzi make a version which I think is even better ( but even more £££ spendy) that a few friends have. McCleod do one too. And a few other outdoor gear brands have got in on their popularity too.  Defo shop around online !

For dry bags. I have dry bags from my decades of white water kayaking. Ortleib is the gold standard- I’m still using heavier fabric versions of theirs 20+ years on.  But for cheap, Muc Off did some a month or two ago cheap as anything, something like £8 or £10 and seem fine – daughter has one for her wetsuit.

If OW swimming alone or a small group, ‘tow floats’ are popular (not usually allowed in Tri as they’ll cause entanglements) but often compulsory in some open water swim events these days, and makes you a lot more visible. I have one I can stash my keys in (in another tiny Aquapak floaty pack)  and an asthma inhaler

Lomo or Swim Secure are the most popular.

@dirtylyle

Are you Brighton based?

I asked this question a few months ago as I’d not swam for 20+ years, and signed up to teh Swim serpentine (which was 2 days ago! Brilliant event..I did the 2 miles in 55 min, which I was pleased with.. 105th overall..yay!) and I picked up a Huub wetsuit from Sportspersuit (Huub – Mens Altius Wetsuit (Black/Silver) and it’s brill..was a bargain at £120..

I’ve really enjoyed the sea swimming, and with a wetsuit, tow float, and phone (in tow float tacking me) i feel pretty safe…

I swim off Hove seafront every wed am, if interested?!

DrP

Wetsuits likely to be optional for the event itself anyway.

Rules will be mandatory wetsuits if the water temp on race day is 14 degrees or lower so you’ll probably be allowed to swim without one down on the warm south coast. However, and this is someone who rarely bothers with a suit in the north of Scotland, there is a big difference between swimming ‘skins’ and then getting out and getting changed and hopping on a bike – the wind chill factor on the bike cools an already cold person down damn fast. It might be in the rules to swim without one but unless the weather is lovely on the day it could mean you have a miserable time on the bike.

Back when I raced tri pretty seriously I had a load of different high end suits. They are lovely to swim in…..but bloody hell they are fragile. The more expensive, the softer they are, the easier it is to put a nail through them. Now I don’t race and only wear a suit to swim in every now and again I’ve gone way down market. I actually rate the alpkit suits. The terrapin is their cheap ‘natural’ suit – not that flexi or warm but very neutral (you don’t get the body position benefits of a race orientated tri suit, but on the plus side it ‘feels’ more like swimming skins) – this is what I wear in the summer up here if I fancy a long swim, especially if the jellies are raging! It’s also pretty hard wearing. Then there is the Lotic which I’ve not worn but is basically a bog standard suit. Finally I’ve also got their silvertip which is their winter suit – I think you’d cook in it on the south coast in September but I do like owning it if I fancy more than a plunge in the proper winter conditions.

And dryrobe – not a great fan. I’ve owned one since 2013 I think but it rarely gets used. I much prefer my microfibre changing robe to get changed in which is both easier to get changed in and packs downs to nothing and then putting on clothes appropriate the weather (probably going up a season of warmth from the actual weather to take into account the latent chill effect from the time in the water). Dryrobes just don’t do it for me, but each to their own. There’s also something a bit ‘outdoor swimmer making sure everyone knows they are an outdoor swimmer’ about wandering about in them post swim which I try to avoid!

@drP

I’m in Lewes, so not too far away, I’ll drop you a line when I’m up and running!

sounds good!

I actually found wearing a wetsuit in the sea was TOO WARM last week! But the serpentine was a lovely 21.9 degrees… could have opted for skins, but i didn’t want to swim with teh tow float for the event, so wore teh wetsuit.
It’s an odd experience wearing it for the first time!

And as molgrips said – swimming pools can get costly too… sealanes here in Brighton is £11 a pop; plus I got fed up being around other people – no one really obeys the lane rules with regards to speed etc… there was a 150 year old lady with a kickfloat in the ruddy training lane last time i went there!

DrP

Ah, was thinking of checking out Sealanes as a girl from work loves it.  Does seem expensive giving the large bit of adjacent coast…

don’t get me wrong – if you head there at the right time it can be pretty empty, and was a good ‘reintro’ into swimming (like i say ..hadn’t done actual lane swimming in years!), but i think i outgrew it pretty fast…

I quite like the ‘freedom’ of being in the sea.
I also wanna check out Tide Mills, which isn’t too far from us…

DrP

If you did decide to buy a wetsuit – the Alpkit ones I mentioned are now in their sale…

Men's Wetsuits & Swimwear

Super useful, thanks @convert !