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[Manti]

So... I am thinking about going sans wetsuit for the Timberman SPRINT this year. Here is my thought process and I would welcome others thoughts/comments:

The swim is only 1/3 mile, which means a strong swimmer will only be in the lake for 8-9 minutes. With that short of a time window, does the time saved from the buoyancy of a wetsuit really outweigh the time lost stripping out of it?

Granted in a longer race the wetsuit is a no-brainer... but I just cant imagine that a wetsuit would save you more than a few seconds in a sprint distance swim... and you will burn through probably at least 10 seconds stripping out of the wetsuit.

Alright... let the opinons begin!
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MANTI

[Emzee]

I don't know, I know just in a speedsuit without buoyancy I am close to 5 seconds faster per 100 yards in the pool. I don't know how long it would take you to remove your wetsuit, but it sure wouldn't take me 25 seconds. However, if you are a very strong swimmer, the performance gains could be less. Still, maybe just practice getting out of it faster?

[keithjordan]

FYI, we also have wetsuit strippers for you, so getting the wetsuit off takes about 5 seconds

[Manti]

So here are my findings... Since I posted a few weeks back, I have gone to the local pond twice a week and timed myself between the shore and a dock on the other side of the lake (approximately 1/4 mile based on measurement on google earth).

Those 8 swims all timed between 5:32 and 5:48 (variation was mostly based tiredness from other workouts going on that day). So setting 5:40 as an average time... I took a full sleeve wetsuit out today and ran the same test. Any guesses?



4:37!

Yep a full minute faster in a quarter mile. So pretty clear that the wetsuit is the way to go... even in a short race.
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MANTI