"When I first started the sport the concept of wetsuits being banned in the UK seemed laughable to me. That was for people who race in Hawaii or the Med, right? Well I’m sure it still happened occasionally, but I had it in my head that I would never have to leave my wetsuit behind on race day.
This was clearly the same mindset that many competitors at the Cotswold Classic this weekend had as they marched into transition, where I was volunteering, clutching their wetsuit bag. When I informed them wetsuits were banned, you could see they were caught off guard, despite very clear communication from the organisers (read Graeme’s reply below for more information). "
Me… Reply ’ “Clutching there wetsuite bag” really… think you are exaggerating (talking BS)… trust me as a weak swimmer I looked for other people carrying a wetsuit towards transition and the start, there were none that I could see when I arrived (literally 100s)… we all knew, as you pointed out. Sure there might have been one or two. But hey, don’t let the truth get in the way of your false message’.
Sorry, too close… annoyed me… more self promotion of their podcast… dont let the facts get in the way of a good story.
unheard of, every year there’s non wetsuit races; except particularly poor summers. Learn to swim properly, then its not an issue. It’s Ironman (half) not SoftLad™
Im not a very social person but spoke to a fair few people that are weak swimmers like myself and we in hindsight were glad we made it through the additional challenge.
I just remember at one of the Midnightman races in 2012 maybe, the quarters and halfers got non wetsuit but us fulls had wetsuit, (it was dreadful) I learned all this on the L1 coaching course but must admit to not really keeping up to date as its not something I would have thought would change
Elites are 20C
AG sprint and standard 22C unless aged over 60 which is 24.6C
AG anything over 1500m is 24.6C
Reason for upward move is due to the time people spend in the water - over longer distances you will be more prone to the effects of hypothermia. This is more noticeable in older athletes which is why it’s 24.6C for over 60s
Meanwhile Swim England (WA) are still at 18c for all (which is a little chilly!) masters do 5k as well, and some of the older ones are in water for 1hr30 - 1hr 45
Interestingly the lake temperature has dropped to 22 already this week - although almost certainly not measured as per race rules. On the way up, 22 felt warm, but after Sunday, 22 feels quite cool. Back in the kneeskin this morning.
because its just a bit less than a competition pool temp (actually they can be 25-28 but are typically around 26 depending on how “public” the pool is)
Don’t know precisely but knowing WT they will have commissioned some research into this and worked with experts. It’s been a few years in the making following some issues with older competitors at major events when wetsuits were banned at 22C. I saw how an 80+ athlete was badly effected by hypothermia at 24C water
(actually they can be 25-28 but are typically around 26 depending on how “public” the pool is)