Living in Central Oregon, if you swim in open water, you’ll eventually need to own
a wetsuit. Much like a trisuit, only a select few genetically gifted folks actually
look good in a wetsuit. The rest of us look either like we’ve been stuffed into an
extra large sausage casing, or worse, we resemble a human condom.
So why do it? Truth be told, it makes you more buoyant and helps you swim
faster. Oh, and in early June in Oregon it will also prevent you from being fished
out of a lake suffering from hypothermia.
When Jaime and I met in early April in Bend we talked about an open water swim
I was going to do in early June. He kindly shared with me a sponsorship code
with Xterra, which allowed me to purchase a nice wetsuit at a great price. I went
ahead and ordered a mid-range full sleeve model. They also have sleeveless
models, but these are better suited for warmer conditions. For my first attempt I
wanted to be as warm as possible.
When I was sizing my wetsuit I lucked out because I was pretty close to Jaime in
size so I simply ordered his size. For the time and investment made it behooves
one to pay attention to sizing examples. If a local shop has rentals take one for a
swim spin and see how it fits. There are also national companies like Trisports
that offer the option to rent a suit for a specific race. Wetsuit makers such as
Xterra also allow the opportunity to rent a suit or even rent one with the option to
buy. This allows you the opportunity to try out a suit before buying. Pay close
attention to the return policy of the manufacturer and if it doesn’t fit right send it
back and get a size that fits perfectly. Sometimes there are back orders on
wetsuits, particularly at the beginning of the race season. Make sure you place
your order with plenty of time before your race. Word to the wise – it seems like
wetsuits are offered at steep discounts at the end of the season (October-
November). If you have a suit and are looking to upgrade this might give you the
opportunity to do so at a fraction of the cost of buying one in the spring.
Don’t wait until race day to break in your suit. Jaime’s mantra is ‘nothing new on
race day’ and it’s best to experience your first time of swimming in the wetsuit
without the mayhem of the open water swim – more on that later. When I first
got my suit I was concerned about using it and thought I’d need to go to a lake in
order to get this done. Mind you, this was mid-May in Central Oregon and most
of the lakes in my area were still surrounded by drifts of snow. I fretted about
what to do until I saw a guy at our local pool jump in and swim laps in his wetsuit.
I waited around until he was done and then I started pressing him for answers to
my questions. He noted that swimming in the pool in a wetsuit was a good way
to get used to how swimming in a wetsuit feels. You can’t do a 2000-meter
session, but you can get a good 500-meter set done. This gives a good feel of
swimming without overheating. Doing a few more laps without a swim cap on
gives you a bit more time in the water. After you’re done swimming it is very
important to immediately rinse off the wetsuit. This can simply be done by
wearing the wetsuit into the shower at the pool and thoroughly rinsing the suit off
before you remove it. Remember to also rinse the inside of the suit as well.
Contrary to popular believe, you do get wet wearing a wetsuit.
The following week after my conversation with the guy in the wetsuit I arrived at
the pool wetsuit in hand. After the obligatory comic dance, know as getting the
wetsuit on (see upcoming blog) I was ready to attempt my first laps and christen
the wetsuit. For a person who tends to have a problem with the back end
sinking, swimming in a wetsuit for the first time seemed like a pretty orgasmic
experience. I was a wetsuit virgin no more and it was probably a good thing the
suit was on so tight lest I be kicked out of the pool for indecent behavior.
Swimming with a wetsuit for the first time felt that good! My back end was
buoyant and allowed me to swim with greater ease. I glided along at a good clip
and before I knew it 500 meters were done. I removed my swim cap and got
another 500 meters in before I felt like I was beginning to overheat. After a rinse
off in the shower my first swim in my wetsuit was done.
The great thing about trying out my wetsuit in a pool was that it allowed me the
chance to experience the feeling of swimming in a wetsuit in a safe environment.
I was able to swim without the worry of others around me and it gave me the
confidence to approach my upcoming open water swim without too much fear.
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