Home Chat General Chat

Latest issue's magazine question: wetsuits

Well, after a few days in Abu Dhabi, have been absolutely useless in the office today - not great when print deadline this Thursday.

So to ease me out of my malaise, appreciate your help with this month's magazine question:

When wetsuit swimming, what one incident has made your toes cringe and made you question your whole triathlon existence!?

Personally, it was having to be winched in at my first triathlon (Windsor) many years ago. The stagger to T1 felt like an eternity, while my contemporaries had long gone on their bikes. Thankfully, my lack of prep didn't put me off our fine sport.

Over to you…

Right, off back home for an early night.

Cheers James (aka tired Ed)

Comments

  • Morg007Morg007 Posts: 54
    First Race (for charity) ever August 2007 at the London Docklands I had foolishly not practised in a wetsuit and hadn't done any open water swimming - unless splashing about on a beach on holiday counts! I struggled round in a parthetic 55 mins and even had my own personal canoeist with me... we had a nice talk and to be fair he got me round that swim course.
  • andissandiss Posts: 82
    During a practise swim in a natural harbour I swam head first into the back of a stationary boat. It was both painful and embarrassing.
  • TRIumphantTRIumphant Posts: 850
    Back just before Christmas I thought I'd have a last plunge in the sea, but the exceptionally long and cold spell had made the sea unbelievably cold. Two hats on, and with no trepidation I ran in and then dived into the water, and my heart almost stopped. Felt like my temples were in a vice, and I wanted to rip my front teeth out, my hands were shaped like a claw, and I struggled to get back to the beach, and warmth. Lesson learnt though, it might be sunny, but it doesn't mean the water is inviting.
  • pippip Posts: 170
    Walking into the lake at Trentham Gardens Big Half 2010 i felt as though i was stepping on snail shells and poo.The swim was pretty rubbish too as some parts of the lake were so shallow i was grabbing handfulls of the bottom when i was pulling through the water
  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    At Strathclyde Standard a couple of years ago, I was all ready and fully prepared, except when I was putting on my wetsuit, I pulled up the zip...and pulled off the zipper! The teethy bits were fine, but the zipper and cord were useless in my hand.

    Cue lots of running about, asking if anyone had a spare wetsuit (no one did, there was only one wave), while I was doing that a friend's mum tried to reattach the zip (but failed). The organisers were going to let me swim without a suit, but at the last minute our own Shadowone1 came through with a lycra top I could wear over the suit.
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    i got in the local river for a lunchtime mile effort, without appreciating quite how fast it was following recent rain. i swam, effortlessly and beautifully, to my turn point, where i turned round and promptly stopped still in the current.

    i swam and swam and swam... and swam: the trees at the bank barely moved. i had a little panic - not because i thought i'd be stranded, or end up being carried downstream to bath - but at the thought that my workmates might wonder where i was and call the emergency services. eventually i saw sense and swam to the bank where the current was weaker, and slowly made my way back.

    i felt like a total idiot for putting myself in that position, not judging the water speed and not being honest with myself that effortless swimming really wasn't very likely!

    i had a similar experience at north norfolk tri, where my wave were released a little early for the tide and caught the tail end of it at the turn point. i've never seen so much spray and chop on the surface, or felt so tired in my arms than after that race.
  • TrisurferTrisurfer Posts: 228
    GOD DAM JELLY FISH!

    Make me jump like a girl (no offense intended to the fairer sex)
  • A girlfriend and I did a topless (a la 'Calendar Girls') shot for 'November' in Team Cherwell's 2011 Tri Calendar. We posed in our wetsuits.... Does that count?!
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    If 220 are not going to do anything to stop spammers, why should we give them free content for their magazine?
  • doogledoogle Posts: 58
    At last years Vitruvianthe lake was covered in a thick blanket of fog for the start. it was very surreal and quite scary heading out into the lake being told to aim for the sun for the first turn. we literaly had to be guided along by the conoeists as you couldn't see a thing.
  • 101SUSY101SUSY Posts: 53
    Failing to remove the suit in a dignified fashion, in public, whilst wearing separates underneath. I hadn't practised. I think the Waterboys wrote a song about it....
  • Failing to remove the suit in a dignified fashion, in public, whilst wearing separates underneath. I hadn't practised. I think the Waterboys wrote a song about it....
    lol
  • At last years Tusca Tri, sea based swim, used my Foor wetsuit for the last time due to its size!!

    I pulled it up a little too far and ended up with a knacker down each leg. You try swimming like that for 750m and not at least yelping every now and again. Needless to say when I jumped on the bike they were a little sensitive. Really enjoyable day all round.... NOT.
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    Curvy_Cactus wrote:
    A girlfriend and I did a topless (a la 'Calendar Girls') shot for 'November' in Team Cherwell's 2011 Tri Calendar. We posed in our wetsuits.... Does that count?!
    Where can we get a copy?

    Um to answer the question- not getting into the suit early enough meant it was a rush and not seated properly - it felt like it was closing up around my throat which got quite bad, made much worse by grabbing the reeds in the lake, panic set in and i ended up drinking a large gutful of the rather charming brown looking substance...unfortunately it wasn't chocloate regro (actually i'm glad it wasn't) i then proptly had to stand up and was sick in the water, just about managed to finish the swim and thankfully wasn't last
  • risris Posts: 1,002
    grim mark, but at least you didn't swim into a boat.

    i say boat, rumour has it that it was more like a massive floating gin palace - wasn't it dave?
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    Ris, I understand it was a mississippi river steamboat - I'm sure Dave will be along in a bit to confirm
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Well... from it looked pretty big from where I was. Maybe 40ft or so?

    But yes... At Swashbuckler I was on the first lap coming back with the flow head down and just enjoying the feeling of stretching out and gliding along freely when.... CLUNK!!! My hand smacked into something very hard. I came up expecting to see some irate competitor lying face down in the water but all I could see was the hull of a rather large yacht. I think I'd managed to veer off to the right by about 30 metres!

    I've tried to forget this incident and put it behind me, but thanks to my wonderful club mates I'm pretty much reminded of it every single day on the other forum.
  • BlinkybazBlinkybaz Posts: 1,144
    I've tried to forget this incident and put it behind me, but thanks to my wonderful club mates I'm pretty much reminded of it every single day on the other forum. [/quote]



    Sometimes something comes along that is written down in history and never forgetten.
    For example

    Zola bud pushing that american bird over (decker) in the olympic's, Ben Johnsons eyes after his drug fuelled 100 metres, Gazza crying in the world cup and Dave swimming into a boat! Good company dave!
    I would have loved to have seen it!!LOL


  • For all your wetsuit dilemma's visit http://www.wildside-online.co.uk/wetsuits. We have new 2XU, T:2 suits for hire. Hire from all season to just one week.

    All customers who hire this season could win a wetsuit!
  • ZacniciZacnici Posts: 1,385
    Well my first OW swim at the Rother Valley tri. It honked down with rain, was freezing cold and full of duck poo, I started off OK but then slowed at the first buoy and got thoroughly thrashed in the washing machine took on several mouthfulls of poo and water (mainly poo I think). The girls started 5 minutes later and I got thrashed again, took me 22 mins.

    In the Outlaw I started off OK, I am a slow swimmer due to an arthritic shoulder which is very weak - my excuse, in training aimed for 90 mins. After 200m we (the slower swimmers) started to encounter weeds like the Sargaso Sea kicked up by the faster swimmers. It clung to goggles, arms and was so bad I was pulled to a halt several times as it wrapped around my legs and even ripped off my timing chip. Several times I thought that I would not be able to break free of the stuff. Despite that once I got to clear water I enjoyed it and came in at 88 minutes.
  • Me and my friend are going to start Triathlon near our local village in St Agnes cornwall. I want to know if i can just use a normal wetsuit for the open water swimming. I have been looking at both triathlon wetsuits and surf wetsuits. I find that the surf buy cialis now wetsuit feel more comfortable, plus we are going to take up surfing and dont want to buy 2 wetsuits.

    I have been looking at wetsuits from this company because they are local
    http://www.freakfish.co.uk/wetsuits.html

    Do you think its wise to go for a surf wetsuit?
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    alicia721 wrote:
    Me and my friend are going to start Triathlon near our local village in St Agnes cornwall. I want to know if i can just use a normal wetsuit for the open water swimming. I have been looking at both triathlon wetsuits and surf wetsuits. I find that the surf wetsuit feel more comfortable, plus we are going to take up surfing and dont want to buy 2 wetsuits.

    I have been looking at wetsuits from this company because they are local
    http://www.freakfish.co.uk/wetsuits.html

    Do you think its wise to go for a surf wetsuit?
    surfing and triathlon wetsuits are two different things,the tri wetsuit is more flexible around the arms so as to ease arm movement,they are also slightly less buoyant(depending on make and thickness).
    You can use a surfing wetsuit,but it would put you at a disadvantage.
    A number of retailers sell off second hand ones or ex hire ones at the end of season,why not rent one for the season?
Sign In or Register to comment.