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Most first-time triathletes dread swimming the most. I was nervous about the swim at first
too. I knew I could ride and run, but how far could I swim with no walls, lane dividers, or
pool bottom on which to rest?
Instead of practicing and improving my swimming, I bought a wetsuit. And although many
triathlon swims are in warm lakes in which a suit isn’t necessary, I still wear it. If
you’re taking the triathlon plunge, you should consider a suit too. Here’s why.
Wetsuits make you more buoyant. This has several advantages: You swim faster. You float more
easily, especially in salt water. No pool bottom, no sides, no lane dividers—no problem!
If you need a rest, just stop swimming and hang out. You don’t need to tread water; you
barely need to move at all. (Well, most of us anyway. My friend Ed had a talent for sinking
like a stone no matter how much rubber he wore, but that was Ed.)
Wetsuits are warm. I hate, hate, hate the idea of getting into cold water first thing
in the morning. Luckily, I’m impervious to the cold in my wetsuit.
Wetsuits are reassuring. You feel armored. Sure, you’re about to fling yourself into a
challenge of unknown dimensions, but you don’t go forth naked. You have three millimeters
of neoprene between you and the abyss.
There’s nothing like spending $150 or $200 on a wetsuit to guilt you into sticking with triathlon, especially if guilt is as much of a driving force in your life as it is in mine.
Now that you’re convinced, here’re a few things to consider. First, wetsuits
aren’t flattering. That’s a problem with rubber garments in general, which is why
I seldom wear rubber to work. Second, wetsuits take some getting used to. They fit tight.
Extra folds at the shoulders, elbows or knees mean the suit is too big. At first this can
be claustrophobic, and you may feel tightness across the chest. Since chest tightness and
shortness of breath are symptoms new triathletes typically suffer anyway, this is not a good
thing. So don’t take your brand-new suit for its first swim during a race. As you wear
the suit, it will loosen and mold to your body.
Which brings me to my next point. The suit wants to become a part of you—so much so
that it suffers separation anxiety and won’t let you go. The more you struggle to take
it off, the more desperately it clings. Two products fight this: Body Glide and PAM. Body
Glide comes in a solid deodorant stick. Apply it to your skin anywhere the suit chafes,
especially the back of your neck. You also apply it where the suit might stick, like the
back of your knees and the inside of your elbows. I use it all over so I can peel the suit
off like a banana peel. Body Glide is expensive, so a lot of my friends spray themselves
and their suits with PAM. As a relative newcomer, I can’t bring myself to cover my
beautiful O’Neill suit with non-stick vegetable spray, but I’m sure the day
will come.
Anyway, it’s silly to be fastidious about PAM considering that you don’t just swim
in your wetsuit. You also pee in it. Are you grossed out? Bear with me. I know it sounds
nasty, but trust me, it’s no big deal. It’s part of the sport. After your first
couple of races you don’t give it a second thought.
Once you get in the water to warm up before your wave is sent off, you pee. It doesn’t
matter how often you hit the porta-potties prior to the race. If you’re properly
hydrated and properly keyed up (and you should be both), nature will call. And that’s
another very good argument for wetsuits. If you have to swim in urine, it might as well be
yours.
The urine doesn’t even stay in the suit. Wetsuits are called wetsuits because
they’re not waterproof; they allow water to enter between the suit and your skin.
This water circulates while you swim, so by the time you get out, you and the wetsuit are
fairly clean. After the race, if you hose your suit off thoroughly, you can’t even
tell what it’s been through, or what’s been through it.
Which brings me to my final point. Do you really want to borrow a suit? I have no problem
borrowing or loaning wetsuits. My friends rinse and dry them properly before they return
them. But there was one Miss Manners moment last summer, when a tri newbie friend was
wearing my suit. I wanted her to know it was OK to pee. After all, the water was cold,
and when you gotta go, you gotta go. But how to broach the subject? Did it go without
saying or should I openly give her permission? And how exactly would I phrase that?
In the end I simply said, “It’s okay to pee in my wetsuit if you need to.”
I never found out whether she did or not.
Bottom line, wetsuits are worth the investment. Don’t think, “I shouldn’t
spend the money until I’m sure I’ll keep doing triathlons.” If you spend
the money, you’re more likely to enjoy your swims, and you’ll want to keep doing
triathlons.
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