Wetsuit Thickness For Open Water Swimming?

My latest fad appears to be training for a triathlon which I may well never do, but nonetheless I appear to have got myself into a ride/ run/ open water swim exercise schedule. I have realised it’s pretty miserable going open water swimming when it’s generally cold (I am in Scotland). I am thinking whether or not to get a wetsuit for swimming, I already have a full 5mm wetsuit for surfing but feel this may be overkill (and too hot) for swimming only? So I am now wondering if I get a shorty wetsuit for swimming only what thickness it should be for year round use. I am not looking for a tri-suit. Can anyone with experience advise? Thanks

Surfing wetsuits are hard work to swim in because the lack of flexibility in the shoulders too.

I haven’t been able to find any thick shorties that are designed for swimming unfortunately, but you do find the odd ‘farmer john’- sleeveless but with legs

https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/Storm-CX-farmer-John-Wetsuit-Centre.html#SID=111

Farmer John

So I am now wondering if I get a shorty wetsuit for swimming only what thickness it should be for year round use

5mm does sound about right but if you are planning to spend more than about 10 mins in the water during winter you’ll prob want a full wetsuit tbh

I am also in Scotland, but don’t wear a wetsuit too often. Only longer winter swims generally. I do wear one in the summer from time to time to combat the jellies if they are particularly rife.

However……wetsuit do make the average swimmer faster, and the vast majority of races insist on one, and if having one actually gets you on the water, why not.

The main thing you are looking for is flexibility, especially around the shoulders. That comes from cut, thickness and finish. Smooth neoprene is much faster through the water than nylon faced. Smooth high end neoprene is super soft and stretchy but also very vulnerable to damage. Low end suits will be slower but last. Thickness – the fastest suits are very thin on the shoulders and much thicker on the torso and legs. The thinner areas make it flexible, the thicker areas make you float higher in the water and therefore faster. The extra thickness in bits of a swim wetsuit is not about warmth, you are working hard – warmth really is not an issue until you get to the winter.

If you are just getting started and are not even committed to entering a triathlon you could do worse than an Alpkit wetsuit. The silver winter one I’d avoid as irrelevant to you right now (thicker and warmer but stiffer and far more knackering – I would cook in one right now) and go for the blue or red jobbies. Neither will make you the next Michael Phelps, but they are good value for money, comfortable enough and tough enough for a bit of use beyond swims. I use the blue one for my swims in the river when it’s a bit cold and for my jelly plagued swims as it is about the closest the a natural swim position I have had in a wetsuit. For me that’s a good thing, but others might call it slow. Yvmv.

Edit – fit. Your average swim wetsuit newbie will think a good fitting suit is too tight. It’s probably not. When still racing and using top end suits, it would often take me 20mins to get on they were so tight and water would barely make it a third of the way up my arms and legs so I’d come out of the water mostly dry. Low end suits are not that tight as they are not that well fitting or stretchy, but expect it to feel strange at first.

The problem probably isn’t whether you get too hot, but whether you can actually swim in your 5mm suit, particularly front crawl as it may be too tight/restrictive around the shoulders/ neck and whether you tire out pretty quickly? Also depends on how far the swim is – a shorty might be OK for 400m, but the buoyancy and hydrodynamics of a full suit are better for longer swims. I bought a Lomo wetsuit last year for a bit of open water swimming – good value.

Aren’t swimming suits also usually thicker in the legs to reduce drag whereas watersports suits are thicker bodies to keep you warm which has the opposite effect.

2/3/4 mm mix. I use a 2XU Propel but Lomo do a good swim suit.

https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/Mens-Wetsuits.html

I suggest you buy a full suit as many events mandate them.

Get a proper swimming or tri wet suit.

I’d piled a load a weight due a succession of injuries and needed a new wetsuit. I tried the alpkit Silvertip which is lined and designed to swim cold water but I couldn’t get in the XL. They had some damaged ones very cheap last in the Keswick shop last in time I was there. I did notice wiggle had a lined suit on offer last week when i was looking at mine but decided not to go for it and just got a normal wetsuit. Here’s a link to the termal one good price.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-hydron-thermal-wetsuit

I’ve swam down to 5c in a standard wetsuit and it’s fine once you get going the worse part is your face going numb and no wetsuit is going to help with that.

I figured I’d use this big suit in the summer and maybe stick a neoprene vest underneath it winter once I’ve lost weight. Im going to be swimming in warm water all summer so a lined suit would be overkill.

When the water is that cold I’d also recommend gloves and socks. Again, the Lomo Tri-X ones are excellent.

And a PSA – Aldi have towelling ponchos at the moment. £14.99.

Tri Sport Resort on eBay seems to be Wiggles returns sell of store. You may have to bide your time to get the right size at a good price but may be worth a look.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_ssn=tri-sport_resort&store_cat=0&store_name=trisportresort&_oac=1&_nkw=wetsuit

Huub at wiggle or sport pursuit do tri suits.
5mm is thick. Probably too thick. A 4/3 dedicated swim suit and gloves should be enough to get you started.
Fit is important, wetsuits work best by letting in a layer of water which you warm with body heat. Holding this layer in place is the trick.

Depends how fat you are and how tolerant to the cold. Some people swim in skins year-round but I’ve never been warm in anything but the shallowest open water and the hottest heatwave. Investing in a (rather expensive) blueseventy thermal wetsuit has allowed me to keep swimming in conditions where a “normal” swimming wetsuit just wasn’t adequate for me.

Oh, gloves, socks, and a thermal cap may all be a good idea too.

It depends massively on you. I did a tri in June with water at 12C. I was a bit too warm in my swimming suit which I think is 2/4mm but my mate was frozen and could barely swim in his similar suit. He’s way faster than me just can’t handle the cold.

Depends how fat you are

😃

Let me introduce you to my friend Kate. Kate is currently one of just 3 people to have completed the ‘Ice Seven’ – swimming a mile in water below 5 degs (normally much colder) on the 7 continents without wetsuit or neoprene cap.

You could call Kate lots of things, but fat is not one of them! Well, I guess you could try, but it wouldn’t end well for you!

I use an Aquaman which varies from 1.5mm to 5mm. The idea is that it not only provides warmth but puts you in a good swimming position and doesn’t restrict swimming crawl. It’s worth about 3 minutes on a 1500m swim.

I’m on the skinny side of lean and find it OK down to about 10C. OK for as long as I can swim hard, as soon as I slow down I gibber.

Isn’t the whole ‘fat’ thing about visceral vs protective fat? You can force your body to put fat around your organs so your blood stays warm by exposure to cold. This is not the same kind of fat that overeating puts on. Point is it isn’t as simple as ‘look, she doesn’t look overweight, why are you shivering?’.

Similarly, can anyone explain why surf wetsuits are bad for swimming crawl? They’re literally designed to make paddling out as easy as possible, which is basically crawl on a surfboard?

When paddling out on a surfboard you don’t stretch your arm right out in front of you next to your head – you can’t, the board is in the way. It’s that action that your swimming suit needs to let you do. So the sides are cut to have loads more material under the armpit which is really quite uncomfortable when your hands are down by your sides.

I’ve got both and the swimming suit is far less comfortable unless I am actually doing crawl.

Similarly, can anyone explain why surf wetsuits are bad for swimming crawl?

Marketing.

When paddling out on a surfboard you don’t stretch your arm right out in front of you next to your head – you can’t, the board is in the way.

on a longboard I have a wider paddling motion, but on a shortboard it’s pretty close to crawl. I’d say a decent top end suit will be just as flexible in the shoulders as a swimming suit. My hyperfreak winter suit is ridiculously flexible, especially when you compare it to suits from even 10yrs ago. Doesn’t have the same distribution to aid flotation though, damn site more robust.

Decathlon do a £100 swimming wetsuit too.

I’ve used a shorty before but as said,main problem is enough flexibility around the shoulders.

I’d say a decent top end suit will be just as flexible in the shoulders as a swimming suit

Maybe, but we’re talking two sub £150 suits here 🙂

I am considering getting a sleeveless one for the Aviemore tri, I reckon it’d be well worth it as I have a long way to swim. In Llanberis my suit was too tight and most of my effort went in to stretching the rubber at my sides rather than swimming.

Thanks for all the input, I am more educated than I was 24 hrs ago.

Jam-bo – funnily enough it’s a Hyperfreak wetsuit I have. I’ll try that before purchasing anything further, I just assumed it would be too much wetsuit.

I am considering getting a sleeveless one for the Aviemore tri,

Check the rules. I don’t recall seeing anyone wearing one for the past couple of events.

when I asked on here for recommendations few years ago, some very helpful people suggested Orca wetsuits, either the Core or TRN Core. Looking both of those are 3mm in the body and 2mm at the arms, there is a thermal option which is 5mm in places.

I went for the TRN as didnt like the glow of the Core, great suit, good price and has worked the handful of times I’ve managed to escape home and get into the sea!

SportPursuit had some DaKine ones for good prices last week

my new summer suit is a dakine quantum. picked it up at nearly 50% off in the middle of winter.

its a good suit but not worth anything like RRP. (£229).

Similarly I’ve got a hyperfreak 3/2 zipless that I was thinking about.

Useless for Tri as getting in and out of it is a bit of a contortion, but I think the only issue is the lack of glideskin?

get a swimming wetsuit. even a cheap one will be better for swimming than a regular wetuit. ive had a few and even the old cheap ones were pretty good. I currently have a cheap DHB one from wiggle and its great. They help with buoyancy as well as keeping you warm. they are specifically designed for swimming. Not just the arm movements but also around the neck how you tilt to turn as you breath. they aren’t very robust and tend to tear easily so you need to take much better care of them than a surfing wet suit….but then its not intended for surfing, coasteering, generally kicking about on the beach….in the same way a road bike inst designed for a DH course!