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Kids tri wetsuit

Jacklyn MooreJacklyn Moore
in General Training Discussions

Does anyone have a suggestion for a girls junior tri wetsuit? My problem is that my daughter is tall and round. Which measurements matter the most for fit? Height, weight, chest,hips. I don't want her to turn into a sinking water balloon. For height she's a 10. All other measurements she's way off. How much do the suits stretch?

She's doing a splash and dash and the water temp going to be around 70 degrees. 

Thanks for your advice. ~ Jacklyn

Comments

  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    In all seriousness, if she is a competitive (or otherwise good) swimmer, she might consider skipping it altogether if the temp is 70. It would be cold but not crazy. My kids (age 19 and 13) have done several races, and we waited unti they were racing as 14 year olds to get one. The race directors at the kids-type races can't/won't expect the "average" kids to have wetsuits, so they'll call off the swim if it's too cold to go without one. This happened to us a couple of times. From a racing-only perspective, she probably won't net a whole lot of time unless it's a surprisingly long swim (say 750 m or more) when you consider getting the wetsuit off with not much practice.

    If it's an adult race, they won't call off the swim unless it's much colder of course.

    I wish I could answer your question more directly...but just a thought.
  • Jacklyn MooreJacklyn Moore

    @ William,

    Thank you for your time. She did a kids tri earlier in the year and froze. We were just looking at it. She's not THAT competitive. It's more for fun and keep her moving. We want activity to just be part of her everyday routine. So we're supporting her however we can. We're concerned that if she freezes again we won't be able to get her back in the water. You do have some good points and we will talk about it. 

    Best wishes, Jacklyn

    PS My daughter dedicated her play this weekend to Tim. 

     

  • William JenksWilliam Jenks
    Thanks for the words. :-)

    When I said "competitive" I just meant that she was a regular swim-team type kid...regardless of whether she was trying to win the race. Sorry about the confusion.

    Regardless, though, the point is that she feels like she needs one, so you should go from there. You don't mention how tall she is, so whether she would fit into the smaller end of "women's" suits or whether she really needs a specialty small one.

    One thought I have is that I have bought all my wetsuits (total of 4 I am pretty sure...maybe 3) used. 3 were on ebay, and one from a previous user we lucked into. The ebay ones are a lot cheaper and of course you can sell them again on ebay without taking much of a loss. What I did was chase down the size charts and make a best guess about what would fit...partly knowing that for a growing kid, it would have a limited lifetime anyway. The point is that you could probably find a couple of suits in the around $100 range and sell one back without too much net cost...depending on your time-frame you could buy them simultaneously or not.

    A second option is that it shouldn't be hard to find a ~50% discount sale/code for Xterra. Since they are mail-order-only, they are good about sending you more than one and accepting a return. The entry level suits are still kinda pricey, but it's an option.
  • Jacklyn MooreJacklyn Moore

    She's 4' 1/2". Barely into the size 10 for girls. The problem is the waist size. I noticed some very good deals on ebay. Just trying to figure out how to "fit" her. If I went by waist/chest she's 14 but way to long. I've read that the sleeves and legs can be trimmed some. I have no experience with wet suits at all.  I'm probably just going to have to go for it and see what happens. The womens' xsmall is a full 12 inches taller. So no dice. 

    Thanks for the xterra information. I'll look at them before I make a decision. 

    Once again thank you William. I really appreciate the guidance. Myah just told me that she's going to win 5 tri metals. Big plans!

  • davidpettigrewdavidpettigrew

    Jacklyn,

    For Splash n' Dash, they are barely in the water. My 10 year old just did the kids race at the Eugene Tri and the water was about 70. She wore a swimsuit and a rashie. It was fine. The other kids would have finished if she had to try to get a wetsuit off in T1. Parent's can't help... A bigger factor is the air temperature when they get out and go on the bike. So early summer races can be cold versus later on. 

    Good luck.

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