You may remember the “how to” blog on “How to Make Your Swimming More Efficient with Buoyancy Short” (aka FLOAT with Zoot Buoyancy Shorts!) Now, I am going to give insight on why the swimskin is good for everyone looking to make their swim the most efficient on race day!!
Looking once again on swimmers, because they are obviously looking to optimize their swim potential and gain any milliseconds with optimized gears. Not only textiles have became more and more hydrophobic making them aquadynamic but when these highly hydrophobic material came out a full sleeve swimsuit was born leading to nearly 200 world records as the suit cut down fatigue, gave more buoyancy and speed as well as a more “engaged core with the compression. The full sleeve suit is now banned but the men can only use the jammers while the women wear what very much look like a triathlete swimskin!
Why not wearing a swimskin? The textile, no matter your experience, will reduce fatigue, gave more buoyancy (including raising the hips! Which is all the difficulty of a triathlete!) and more speed due to the hydrophobic material and an engaged core!
When wearing the swimskin it may not feel as much buoyance as the FLOAT buoyancy short, but this is as close you can get without a wetsuit swimming non-wetsuit triathlon. So why not using that free advantage and if not gaining speed, for sure gaining freshness to get out on the bike faster and fresher!
The buoyancy will naturally raise the legs and thus you can focus on a light-2-beat kick pressing your chest forward.
As with any gear, I recommend practicing in your WIKISPEED swimskin, to confirm you have the right size (it should be tight, yet with mobility; no material floating though as you want it to by hydrodynamic!). Practice with your race suit; whether you are a beginner choosing the CORE racesuit or have elected to be as efficient as possible with the P1X racesuit.
You do not want any surprise on race day, any “how” questions popping out seeing some athletes wearing it sleeveless (meaning sleeves under the skinsuit) or with the full sleeves on. You want to know your most efficient way. How? Simply by practicing. Do your race specific set, know your times and were the sleeve on or under. For example: 8x100 at race pace for a sprint or 20x100 at half/IM effort – do it at your target pace to know the efficiency at your race pace. Ask the question can I hold it the entire race? If yes, compare your times and that is how you know your favorite option! If you are 1-2s similar then the new question popping-up is how long and what energy does it take me to put on sleeves (if you go sleeve under). If you are very comfortable you know your answer. If not you have to keep practicing to find out! The goal is to save energy while being the most optimized, fastest version of yourself! Then coming race day you will have no doubts around other athletes preferences because you know yours!
You may see sleeve version of a speedsuit. Unless you have a very durable-resistant upper strength, you will have more chance to create a compression that will increase fatigue in the upper and thus you will lose efficiency and create fatigue, which is the opposite of what we want to achieve with a swimskin; rather it is all about being faster and most efficient fatigueless 😉
In training, if you simply love your WIKISPEED swimskin, and you can feel it makes you a most efficient swimmer, use it! Remember use all the tools that makes your stroke most efficient as with the repetition of movement you will gain the durability with the correct swim form. If that becomes your daily swimmer, think of having a new version (that you have tried 1-2x prior race day) to maximize the buoyancy and speed! Love your swim and fast will come!
Anne Basso
Zoot Sports Contributor | Professional Triathlete
Anne is a USAT Level 2 Coach with QT2 Systems LLC and holds an M.S. degree in Chemistry with a specialized academic focus in Exercise Physiology. As a professional athlete and elite coach, she combines scientific rigor with real-world racing experience to help empowering athletes achieve their goals. Follow her training and coaching insights at @anne_basso on Instagram.