Pool training suit

[tycoonelyk]

I used to be a competitive swimmer a few years back, and got sponsored by speedo and they gave me one of their LZR suits, and I also have a Blue Seventy Nero Comp swim suit (both were banned shortly after their release.) My question is: Would that be a better suit to train in than just a regular ole speedo?

I don't have a pic of the suit, but here's a link that shows what the Blue Seventy looks like, (the LZR looks mostly identical)

Blueseventy NERO Comp Men's Full Suit at SwimOutlet.com - Free Shipping

 

[pingshui]

I would not use one of the good suits for practice and spare them for competitions, if you are going to participate. Otherwise I prefer neoprene suits for practice, because I start freezing easily during the long resting periods or when i am safety for my buddy. If you don't freeze, a normal speedo will be fine though.

 

[tycoonelyk]

Oh ok. I don't do any competitions right now, but I would like to do them in the future. So I guess I can save them for later on down the road!

 

[pingshui]

At least I would

 

[tycoonelyk]

Maybe they would be good in the Blue Hole.. I wouldn't need a weight belt with them because they are super thin. I'd say around .5 mm.

 

[watts]

The Speedo suits have a very limited life compared to other fastskins like Arena.
Depending what time of year you dive in a 0.5 suit you may get cold quickly.
Some of the guys in Sydney are using a cheap thin speedo wetsuit and they all love it. Just gotta get the neck seal sorted.

 

[tycoonelyk]

Well I was thinking if I do competitions further down the road, perhaps at Deans Blue Hole, a suit like this would be perfect..?

 

[Mullins]

Bit cold - you'll generally need a wetsuit for Deans. You can wear a 2-3mm top over them though.

 

[Simos]

Quick general question - in the link you posted, it quotes for the suit:

• Drag coefficient of only 0.032

Don't know exactly how this is calculated but has anyone ever seen drag coefficients quoted for freediving suits? If yes, any idea how these are worked out and some quantification in terms of what they roughly mean distance-wise in DYN say?

 

[tycoonelyk]

Well you have to understand that that's a competition suit and its so tight that it takes a good 15 minutes to put on.. so they drag co-efficiency is going to probably be quite a bit higher

 

[Simos]

Well you have to understand that that's a competition suit and its so tight that it takes a good 15 minutes to put on.. so they drag co-efficiency is going to probably be quite a bit higher

Thanks was just wondering what the drag coefficients are for freediving suits. I am not too sure whether what makes the most difference is the fact that it's really tight or the material/shape of the suit.

I would imagine that if it wasn't tight there would be a lot more drag for sure but I have a feeling that the drag coefficient the manufacturer quotes is referring more to the material?

 

[Mullins]

It will be an entirely made up number Simos. Pointless unless every person is the same shape

 

[tycoonelyk]

It will be an entirely made up number Simos. Pointless unless every person is the same shape

Thats also very true. And it would depend if its a custom made suit specifically taylored to your body or if its a regular suit size that you'd buy from Mares, Omer or where ever that could be a looser fit in some areas.

 

[tycoonelyk]

So you could never get a true number unless, like mullins said, everyone was the same size.

 

[Simos]

It will be an entirely made up number Simos. Pointless unless every person is the same shape

That's true Dave but I would have thought (or hoped) that in order to compare suits like for like, there would be some convention on assuming the same form drag so that the drag coefficient essentially is just down to skin friction (which is why I was wondering whether it just relates to material)

I guess my question is simple - are those 'banned' super low drag swimming suits better for DYN than a smoothskin freediving suit?