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Full or sleeveless wetsuit for Lake Placid

Dave CampbellDave Campbell
in Racing Forum 🏎

I've got both, the sleeveless, a PorMotion 2003 Vintage, I've had for years and many races in.  The full, an Xterra Vortex, I bought last fall for LP, but have not had the opportunity to swim more than 1 mile at a time in it due to warm water.  Did an olympic in it last fall, coming off a PR 1/2 IM and felt the shoulders getting tired by the end of the race.  Figured it was due to the extra material up top.  Plan to take both to LP and decide after some practice swims in the lake.  Any opinions on which would be best?  Thanks

Comments

  • mattsullmattsull

     I would go with the full. Do some more swims in it. More rubber=faster.

  • Al TruscottAl Truscott

    Full sleeve is ALWAYS faster. BUT, if you are a strong/fast swimmer (IM in less than  65 minutes), you can start to overheat as the water temp gets above 72F - the slower you swim, the more you can tolerate the warmer water, because, like it or not, you're just not working as hard - probably have a slower stroke rate and less strong kick, so generating less heat. That's why the pro max for wetsuits is 72. If the water temp is "high", there's no way you'll be able to tell from a short warm-up if you can tolerate it - it's cumulative, just like hypothermia. And the consequences can be basically heat exhaustion - people have been known to pas out from being too hot in a wetsuit.

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