How much faster with a wetsuit – Part 2
I asked myself this question a while ago and came up with the answer of 40s per 400m. But this was based on a pool swim where there are push off and glides every 25m. So what’s the difference in open water?
Well I went to the lake yesterday and, after a little persuasion, decided to swim without my wetsuit. I decided to push one length, which is around 400m, quite hard. In fact, it probably was “hard”. Definitely not “all out” but I guess I might have been able to go a fraction quicker. My watch said 6:43 for the lap. So how does that compare?
Well last week I did a few lengths with my wetsuit on – very easy, easy and moderate. The very easy one was 7:30, reducing to 6:40-something for the moderate one. So the difference between with wetsuit and without is the difference between a “moderate” effort and a “hard” effort.
But I like numbers so what’s the time difference? Well, on 11 May I did some intervals in the lake which included 3 hard laps, done in: 5:55, 5:52 and 5:58. I’ve not done much swimming since Lanzarote so I may well have lost some swim fitness. But if I haven’t the difference is around 46s or so. Let’s say I have lost a bit of swim fitness and 6:43 was a little on the easy side of hard then that 46s ties in very well with 40s.
So, I am going to claim that I am 40s per 400m quicker with a wetsuit. Nice 