How cold is 65F?

BillX said:

I have a triathlon this coming Sunday and expect the water to be around 65F for a 1/2 mile swim. My
preference is to race sans wetsuit because it takes 4-5 minutes to get it off. How much more
difficult is it to swim in 65F compared to 70F?

Work on your technique for removal.

The last T1 I did that was timed was 2:24 - this included a 100 yard barefoot uphill run on mixed
pavement, removing the suit (actually half off before I left the water), putting on socks, cycling
shoes, and going on foot 50 yards to the bike start.

What suit do you have? A classic one piece, zipper down the back? Full arms and legs? I find it is
often easier to remove in 3ft of water as you can use the weight of the water to keep the neoprene
off the legs and makes it fairly easy to strip down - then run with it in hands. At the very least
you can unzip the back, and get it down to the waist as you trot out of the ocean. And then there is
always the method of spraying your legs with Pam or merely rubbing them with some bodyglide.

If instead you have a 2 piece like the DeSoto, I'm not sure. Zipperless is great in the water, but
getting them on/off looks much harder than with my Stealth suit.

65 is the typical beach temp for Los Angeles in the summer. You can definitely do the swim without
but you will lose the speed gained by the buoyancy (for me probably 90 seconds) and you will leave
the water with a lower core temperature. This will affect your performance in the latter stages,
though by how much I cannot estimate.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

My problem is that my calves are unusually large compared to my chest/neck so the wetsuit fit is too
tight on the lower body to accomodate the upper torso fit. I have a Medium-Small QR long john
(sleeveless). If I could customize a suit with large lower torso and MS upper I'd be all set.

"Jason O'Rourke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

BillX said:

I have a triathlon this coming Sunday and expect the water to be around

65F

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for a 1/2 mile swim. My preference is to race sans wetsuit because it

takes

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

4-5 minutes to get it off. How much more difficult is it to swim in 65F compared to 70F?

Work on your technique for removal.

The last T1 I did that was timed was 2:24 - this included a 100 yard barefoot uphill run on mixed
pavement, removing the suit (actually half off before I left the water), putting on socks, cycling
shoes, and going on foot 50 yards to the bike start.

What suit do you have? A classic one piece, zipper down the back? Full arms and legs? I find it is
often easier to remove in 3ft of water as you can use the weight of the water to keep the neoprene
off the legs and

makes

Quoted message said:

it fairly easy to strip down - then run with it in hands. At the very

least

Quoted message said:

you can unzip the back, and get it down to the waist as you trot out of the ocean. And then there
is always the method of spraying your legs with Pam or merely rubbing them with some bodyglide.

If instead you have a 2 piece like the DeSoto, I'm not sure. Zipperless is great in the water, but
getting them on/off looks much harder than with my Stealth suit.

65 is the typical beach temp for Los Angeles in the summer. You can definitely do the swim without
but you will lose the speed gained by the buoyancy (for me probably 90 seconds) and you will leave
the water with a lower core temperature. This will affect your performance in the latter stages,
though by how much I cannot estimate.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com

"BillX" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My problem is that my calves are unusually large...

Try using a hefty dose of BodyGlide. If that doesn't work, cut your suit at the knee. Even on dry
land, you should be able to remove your suit in less than 30 seconds; in water, it's even faster.

If all else fails, buy a DeSoto. They're very fast in the water & very easy to remove. Also, they're
a 2 piece suit so you can get different sized tops & bottoms. The 2 piece with full arms won't
restrict your shoulder motion either.

Good luck.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I have a triathlon this coming Sunday and expect the water to be around

65F for a 1/2 mile swim...

Oops, I didn't read far enough before I sent my last post. Since you tri is Sunday, I would make do
with what you've got.

A really good swimmer will gain about 5-10 sec per 100m with a wetsuit; an average swimmer will gain
10-20 seconds; poor swimmers can gain 30 seconds or more per 100m. With that in mind, make a
conservative estimate of your ability, and then practice removing your wetsuit until you hit a
breakeven point with respect to time.

If you're still not confident about removing your suit, and you can swim an 800 in under 15 minutes,
I wouldn't bother wearing it unless you have a chance to podium. 65F is doable for 40 to 45 minutes
if you're wearing a cap. Then again, you can get pretty damn cold treading water while waiting for
your wave to start!

Don't forget to have fun!

BillX said:

My problem is that my calves are unusually large compared to my chest/neck so the wetsuit fit is
too tight on the lower body to accomodate the upper torso fit. I have a Medium-Small QR long john
(sleeveless). If I could customize a suit with large lower torso and MS upper I'd be all set.

Aside from the other thoughts put out, think about where you take it off. It may come off easier in
the water than out.

A different wetsuit may be in order if nothing works out. The piels have the breakaway zippers that
might get you around the problem. I've seen offseason deals on it that have been good. No help for
now, of course.

--
Jason O'Rourke www.jor.com