Have Faster Swimsuits made triathlon swim times faster?

No one is debating that the newest swimsuits on the market today are faster than the suits of the past.  It seems like the whole book has been re-written in the sport of competitive swimming for the past year.  Triathletes have been using these suits in their racing when wetsuits aren’t allowed.  So, are those expensive suits making everyone’s swim split faster in triathlon swim just like it’s making everyone faster in competitive swimming?  This article seeks to analyze this question in detail.

Results were tabulated from the pinnacle of triathlon events:  the Hawaii Ironman.  The Ironman organization has done a fantastic job in maintaining results for every single finisher that has ever done the race.  So it was easy to get the swim times of the top-10 finishers over time, from 1982 to 2008.  Conversely, the top-10 times in Long-Course Meters competitive swimming were obtained for the 1500-meter freestyle over the same time period.  Both races are relatively long, and both involve the same basic arm and leg movements.  But are the trends the same for competitive swimming and triathlon swimming?  The answer is shown in the Figure down below.  It may surprise you.

As you can see from the Figure, trends in triathlon swimming splits have not changed much over time.  In fact, the triathlon swimming times back in 1989 (the year of the famous Iron War) was just 25 seconds slower than the fastest year ever (in 2003).  In fact, the average swim time from 1989 through 1993 was actually 52 seconds faster than the average swim time from 2004 through 2008.  There were no fast-skins or full body suits in the early 1990s.  Back then, you swam your best with shaved legs and a really tight swim brief!  So, why were the triathlon swimming times faster back then over a period of several years?      

Conversely, the trends in 1500 meter competitive swimming have followed a very controlled pattern over the past three decades.  The progress was very slight, at an improvement of about 1% by total time every 10 years.  In fact, the only significant deviation from this trend was in 2008, suggesting that the latest edition swim suits offer an advantage far superior to the early fast-skins introduced in 2000 and 2004.  So, it seems the suits, particularly those introduced in the past year have made competitive swimming faster.

So, what explains the difference between 1500 meter competitive swimming times versus Ironman swim splits?  The reality is faster suits can make the average triathlon swimming split slower.  Here’s why.  As the suits help everyone equally, the ability to draft gives less of an edge to athletes with superior swimming ability.  In the early days, swimming ability came in many forms.  The ability to float, kick and pull are all skills that once made a difference in your swim time.  If you had all three mastered, you could power by everyone and make gains measured in minutes. 

Today, the fastest suits decrease the importance of floating and kicking and replace them with a more singular focus on pulling, which is easier to learn.  Thus, the swimmers at the front have less incentive to drive the pace.  At best, they may gain a few seconds, which is not enough to make it worthwhile in the overall race.  They know that the athletes behind them are that much faster and therefore more likely to keep up in their draft.  The end result is the field can swim a little faster, but they don’t want to.  So the net difference in time is about zero.

Of course, the trends in triathlon swimming may be not evident because there is not enough history.  Open water swimming has much more variation than pool swimming because of all the variables involved.  Top Ironman swim splits can vary by 3 minutes or more from one year to the next just because of weather, surf or placement of buoys.  If the improvement rate in triathlon swimming is just 30 seconds over 10 years (which equals the same 1% improvement rate observed in competitive swimming), it may take several decades to see a trend.

Hopefully, this article has enhanced your understanding of the effects of those fast swimsuits in competitive swimming versus triathlon swimming.  Since fewer variables are involved in swimming, the field has steadily improved speed over a 1500 meter distance at a predictable linear rate for the past three decades.  Swim times in triathlon have not made the same changes, and in many ways have not changed at all.  It is not that the new suits slow you down.  It is an indication that the new suits create a different dynamic in an open water field, forcing the competitors to swim closer together and duke it out more on the bike and run.  Until next time, happy training!