I have been doing triathlons for a couple years and have a question on what to wear during a pool swim. Right now I have a Ultra tri tank from Zoot that I normally wear under my wet suit (for open water but I don’t know if I should wear this during the pool swim or not I know there are tri suits that would be better but I am not looking to spend the money on them right now and just want to know what people would recommend. Thanks
It depends. Some indoor triathlons have you rush to the bike. Some build in a transition/changing period of 5 to 20 mins.
In chlorine, I’d wear a swimming jammer or speedo. Then change and put on a top after. Or if there was no allotted transition time, I’d wear a bike bottom but no top in the pool.
Most tris using a pool have very short swims - 200 yards, perhaps? So, you’re probably not losing much time by not wearing optimal garb in the pool. Try wearing your gear in a practice swim and see how it works for you. A few short times in the pool won’t kill your gear. Trying to put a dry top over wet skin is difficult at best.
Is it a reverse tri? You might be able to remove your top (if you’re male) as you make your way from bike to pool.
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It is not a reverse tri and the swim is 500y. I have struggled in the past trying to get a dry shirt on (3:30 T1 in my first) and just wasn’t sure what the effect would be on drag in the pool. I will try swimming with the top this week and see how it goes.
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Clothing is not a bad place to spend triathlon money. It can be significant in comfort and speed.
In my crude testing in the pool with Tempo-Trainer, my tri top (tight with the pockets removed) was several seconds slower per 100 than no top. I also tried the old trick of unzipping it and stuffing it in my shorts (so you just pull it up in T1) wasn’t any faster. I use a one piece tri-suit for pool swim triathlons but I haven’t tested it. For cold events, I have used just tri shorts and put on a tight fitting thermal vest for the bike. That worked pretty well.
I have seen a few people wear swim skins but given that my races with pool swims are usually early season, low-key events that seems like over-kill.
In the one sprint I’ve done that had a pool, I emailed the RD and asked if a top was required during the bike and run. He responded “no, but you might want to get a race belt because you are required to pin your number on during the run and that could hurt.” You might not even need a top, making things much faster for you.
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I’d recommend wearing the tri top, having a fast T1, and winning the race. Don’t sweat the seconds you’ll lose swimming with the top on. A speed suit over that would be best, but I wouldn’t sweat it too much.
ETA that I’m assuming it’s cool were you are, so you’re wearing a top for that reason. Otherwise race shirtless if you can!
Boom, this is your best advice.
If it’s a sprint go jammer/speedo/tri shorts and no shirt.
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I just wear my 1 piece for all distances. The swims are so short it doesn’t matter much. 5 seconds won’t end your day. Fe me, they are often cold early season races, so having a little more coverage is nice. As long as it’s over about 50F, I just suck it up and tape my shoes and helmet vents. Below that I’ll throw on arm warmers can be slid over the wrists, then rolled on later once you get moving. I’ve tried a light weight vest or jacket, but I always waste too much time zipping it… and the aero is probably crap too.
I use a Orca tri suite for pool races, but you should be fine with top and shorts, I presume it’s got some hydro qualities to it. But what ever it’s only a short swim so time lost in the pool would be easy gained back by not having to mess about in T1 putting a top on.
For the 500m swim in the one Tri that I do, I just wear Tri shorts. Then, in T1, I put on a full zip bike jersey - snug fit. Being full zip it is so much easier to get on than attempting to pull something on. Plus, if you are concerned about T1 time in a Sprint, head off without it being done up and do it up on the road (you can ride safely with no hands - right?).
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I’ve had success with a tyr carbon top in the past does not absorb water really dries quickly!!!