Tip of the Week: Avoiding Rashes

May 18, 2008

Ever wonder where you need to use a moisturizer to avoid chafing / rashes from your wetsuit? If your swim is long, (like Ironman), you want to make sure you have the stuff around your neck, particularly at the back of your neck as that area gets scratched up by the zipper flaps. This is not nearly as important in a half-mile swim, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you wear a sleeveless wetsuit, you will want to apply moisturizer on the inside of your bicep muscle, as that area will rub past the neoprene around your torso. In my first days of triathlon, I didn’t know this and wound up with a silver-dollar shaped rash on the inside of my arm every time. No fun. You will thank yourself several times over the next day when you wake up without that rash! Just make sure you use a moisturizer designed to work with wetsuits. I advise you to ask an expert at your local triathlon store, as many oils will wreck the neoprene. Hopefully, this will make your race day more comfortable and help you in avoiding rashes!

View previous swimming tips.