​Four Essential Factors When Choosing a Wetsuit

A triathlon wetsuit will make a difference to your race and it's important that you get the right advice whether you're looking to upgrade or buying your first wetsuit.

We spoke to Steve Collins – Ironman and Director at MyTriathlon and MyWetsuithire to ask his advice on choosing a wetsuit.

MyTriathlon and MyWetsuitHire offer a unique wetsuit service – customers can buy or hire from over 25 wetsuits from 5 of the most TRUSTED wetsuit brands. MyTriathlon and MyWetsuithire offer the full range of men's and ladies wetsuits across the top brands in the sport – 2XU, Zone3, Blue Seventy, Huub and Mako - so wether your looking for an entry level wetsuit or upgrading to a more expensive wetsuit we can offer friendly, independent, expert advice

Call the team on 020 7183 7245

Four essential factors to consider when choosing the right wetsuit

Fit

It's really important to get the right fitting wetsuit – over 40% of people select the wrong size wetsuit first time. We understand the differences in the cut and shape of the wetsuits – asking for a person's height, weight and body shape will give us a good understanding of the best wetsuit to fit. We are happy to advise over the phone and this is a UNIQUE service. In addition we size check EVERY wetsuit that is ordered and we will have a conversation if we think a different size or wetsuit will be more appropriate. Over 97% of all our orders are correctly size checked – this means that the swimmer gets a great fitting wetsuit and minimises returns – saving time and money for everyone.

Price

Price is definitely an important consideration. For novice swimmers we will tend to recommend a low to mid priced wetsuit. If budget permits, we would suggest going for a mid-range wetsuit as these tend to give the swimmer more buoyancy and warmth – purchasing an ex-rental wetsuit makes a great option and are great value for money enabling you to buy a mid level wetsuit at a budget price. For the more experienced swimmers with a number of key races on their schedule we usually suggest one of the more expert wetsuits which give more flexibility in the water – an important factor in any race particularly a longer distance swim. The important thing is that will over 25 wetsuits – there's a wetsuit to suit every budget and ability.

Brand

We offer a choice of over 25 wetsuits from 5 of the top Triathlon brands – 2XU, Zone3, Blue Seventy, Huub, Mako

Each brand has its unique sizing chart. To help, we publish these charts on our website – we also ask purchasers for their height and weight and any additional information they can give us is really helpful – such as body shape (e.g. broad shoulders etc). From our experience we know when we may need to offer a different size or even Brand based on this information.

Swimmer's Ability Novice to Ironman

Most triathlon wetsuit manufacturers have an entry-level, mid-level and expert wetsuit. Some base their range on race distance, some on buoyancy, some on body shape.For novice Triathletes, without a swimming background we suggest a wetsuit that will give them more buoyancy in the water – this will generally put the swimmer higher in the water and means they will swim faster. Stronger swimmers generally prefer more flexibility in the arms and shoulder in order to maintain their technique and stroke, especially over longer distances.

www.mywetsuithire.co.uk – www.mywetsuithire.co.uk

Our UNIQUE business model allows swimmers to purchase or hire their wetsuit and we also organise an OpenWaterSwim at Pennington Flash where you can try before you buy. We also sell or hire out wetsuits there – Pennington Flash is the home of the UK Ironman swim another reason to come along – take a look at our website www.myopenwaterswim.co.uk