Wetsuit
I have a three year old Zoot full suit with several rips that must be mended. I am considering a new suit, but do not know if it is worth it. First, I am slooooow in the water. My IM swims are in the range of 1:44. I have taken private lessons from a coach that "focuses" on triathletes and was told my form was fine but my kick was weak. She wanted me to concentrate on my kick. As I do not want to tire my legs before riding 112 miles and running 26.2, I would prefer to look for improvement elsewhere. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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Comments
I'm more worried about the tri-specific swim coach who thought your 1:44-IM stroke looked fine and that you need to work on your kick. With that pace, I can almost guarantee that your answer is not: kick harder + new wetsuit. A good swim coach can find flaws in Michael Phelps' stroke. I'm a 1:00-05 IM swimmer, and every swim coach I've consulted with has told me I have to work on some pretty major flaws in my stroke and that I need to kick less.
I would take an iPhone underwater video (with appropriate case) of your stroke, review it, then go review some of Coach R's video critiques of other swimmers' strokes. There's some great nuggets in there about position, rotation, catch, breathing, pull and kick that you can probably apply to your stroke. You can also post the video in these forums, where you're sure to find some constructive feedback.
I would look for a wetsuit that is a good fit for you so you don't feel too constricted. That was my prob w my first wetsuit. In order to not feel like an elephant was sitting on my chest, I had to size up and the legs were huge, which wasn't great for hydrodynamics!
Good luck!
Mike's right … a strong kick is a good way to keep your body horizontal in the pool, but in a wetsuit tri? Not so much. EG, Coach R's IM swim is mid-50', and he uses a two beat kick, just to keep his body stabilized.
Regards upper body feelings of constriction in a wetsuit - It's kinda like getting used to aerobars on a tri bike, with its geometry specifically designed for them. You;d be worse off if you put drop bars on a tri bike, just for "comfort", than if you rode a standard road bike. I've had suits that were a bit too loose in the shoulder/chest area. The water which normally coats the inside of a wet suit (that's why they're called "wet", as opposed to "dry", which lets in NO water) would fill up in my armpits,sloshing around and making things worse than swimming without the suit.
If you've got a mismatch between your upper and lower body configurations, DeSoto solves than with the ability to pick a different size for tops and bottoms. I've used DeSoto for 10 years; warmer, more "flexible" from the point of view of how you actually swim, and faster to get off. I also use a DeSoto "speed tube" for my legs in the pool, kinda like a junior wet suit, which allows me to mimic in the pool swimming the way I would in a wet suit.
Getting used to the feeling on "constriction" in a wetsuit is part of the game of tri, like getting used to riding in aerobars and running on deadened legs.
That said, of course technique is the way to make the biggest gains...for almost all of us.