Sea swimming - need some advice on wetsuits

[gcleminson]

Anyone here into open water swimming who could lend some advice? My Daughter's doing an introduction to sea swimming course - last term it was pool-based building up their endurance, and from this week they're starting out in the sea.

We've been told we need to buy a swimming wetsuit but they haven't given any specifics or particular advice about what thickness of insulation and I've not been able to get hold of them to ask. Current sea temps off the South Coast are around 11-12C, and will obviously warm up as we move into the summer.

I don't want to get one that she's going to boil in, but equally don't want her to freeze either, as the hobby will likely be short-lived! We bought one from Decathlon last week marketed as a cold-water suit, but again no information in the shop about what is considered to be cold water, and at 4mm all over my instinct when she tried it on was that she'd bee too hot.

Any tips?

[Andrzej]

My wetsuit is a Zone3 Aspire. In really cold water, I wear an additional 2mm rash vest, and 3mm neoprene gloves, hat and socks.

There are some great deals on at the moment- I bought mine as ex-demo at £60 plus £25 for new zip - so far 4 years of open water swimming for that!

[Reeny]

I used to windsurf, and a shorty might be best to keep the cost down for summer, then use the full 4mm winter suit in colder weather.
The fit is all important, so she will need to try on.
Too loose and you will loose heat / too tight and you can't move.

The torso would need to keep the heat in, and the arms & legs would need to be free moving.
So I assume that a swimming wetsuit will have looser fitting arms & legs, with thinner neoprene in the vital places for better movement.

Edit - I noticed you already have a 4mm suit - this would be ideal for winter, but too thick for me during summer.
A 2-3mm summer suit is easier to get into, and easier to use.
Go to a proper surf shop - Surfers swim using their arms & legs and will know what works.

[Toddy]

This might help:

[Chris_in_the_UK]

Alpkit have a good range.

[Maysie]

My old wetsuit for OW swimming was multi-thickness to provide warmth to the core, but had thinner zones for greater flexibility of movement. It was quite hi-spec though and aimed at triathletes, so not sure if they will be available in child sizes.

It did make a big difference when swimming crawl as it was very flexible through the shoulders.

I really struggled with the extra buoyancy the suit provided, so found the swim technique in OW was very different to pool based drills.

[gcleminson]

Cheers for the tips guys. She fits a Ladies size small now, so the days of getting away with cheaper youth sizes are long gone! Sounds like the 4mm Decathlon suit might be too warm then.

Good shout about the surf shop - we have one down the coast I might pop into later if I can get away.

Had no idea Alpkit did wetsuits - I'll take a look as I'm familiar with the quality of their other gear.

Thanks TZ

[Reeny]

Sounds like the 4mm Decathlon suit might be too warm then.

She might be glad to use the 4mm during the winter, so all is not lost.

I always had two suits available depending on the weather conditions - and the amount of energy I expected to use.
Dried wetsuits are easier to get into - wet ones are a nightmare (and cold). So the second suit was always there as a back up.