Have you ever wondered what all those high priced wetsuits can do for you that you see in your local triathlon store? Spending four hundred bucks on a hope of making the swim a little easier or faster is not an easy decision for most of us. Elite triathletes seem to think the price is worth it, as most wear wetsuits whenever they can. But how much faster does it make them?

We performed testing to quantify the improvement of various wetsuit and swim suit types. This involved two swimmers (Curt & Duane) dragging a bunch of swimsuits to a local swimming pool, swimming and timing a series of laps at a predetermined speed. For each lap, we recorded our heart rate. After it was all done, we obtained a series of heart rate values at different speeds for all of the swim suits we tested. See Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Heart Rate vs. time for all swim suits

From this data, we figured out what our swim times would be at a race pace heart rate for each swim suit type. If you are working just as hard and have the same heart rate, then any difference in time has to come from the suit you are wearing. We tested four different swimsuits: a Full Sleeve wetsuit, a Sleeveless wetsuit, a Fast-Skin racing suit and compared these to a brief-style swimsuit as displayed in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – Duane showing the suit types tested

Figure 2 shows the suits worn by Duane during the experiment. Curt wore a similar brief style and fast-skin swimsuit. He used a De Soto two piece for his Full Sleeve wetsuit and removed the top half (wore the bottom only) as his Sleeveless wetsuit. As shown in Figure 3, this is the likely reason why Duane and Curt had differences in performance for Sleeveless wetsuits.

Figure 3 – Improvement in seconds per 100 meters at race pace

The improvement in seconds per 100 meters of swimming is shown in Figure 3. Overall, the experiment was successful in estimating the performance of different swimsuits. The Full Sleeve Wetsuit was superior to the Sleeveless Wetsuit. In an Olympic distance triathlon, a Full Sleeve Wetsuit improves an athlete’s time by a huge 1 minute 23 seconds. The benefit for a Fast Skin is 16 seconds for the same distance. These times may be small or large depending on your level of competitiveness in the sport.

We went to great lengths to ensure unbiased results. We randomized the order of the tests to keep us guessing. If we did a particular repeat that was too fast or too slow, we repeated it until we got it right. We tested at a pace that was fast but comfortable enough that we wouldn’t get tired. We got all of the testing done in one outing so that day to day changes in our energy level didn’t affect results. We performed a detailed statistical analysis to ensure that our experimental controls were effective. Contact us or visit our website at www.dobkanize.com if you would like to see more details.

The next time you are at the store, you will know what you are paying for. If your Full Sleeve Wetsuit costs $400 dollars, it means you are spending $5 dollars for every second you gain in an Olympic distance triathlon swim. If your Fast Skin costs $250, you are paying $16 dollars per second for the same race.

Curt & Duane

Curt Wood and Duane Dobko are elite amateur triathletes who reside in Minneapolis, MN. Both began racing triathlon after successful collegiate swimming careers and now race for the Gear West Elite Team out of Long Lake, MN.