Triathlon coach Roy Hinnen has provided background to an extensive test of triathlon wetsuits. Billed as the world’s largest neoprene test in a flume, it examined 38 wetsuits from 13 different manufacturers.
The neoprene test was initially carried out in September 2019 at The Flume in Horgen, Switzerland. The initiative was undertaken by Roy Hinnen, together with Sebastian Weber from INSCYD (at the German Sport University of Cologne) and Markus Nussbaum from German tri coaching firm BESTZEIT.
The neoprene test was not about finding an overall winner, but more about finding which suit was best in terms of energy for each swimmer, considering his or her individual swimming style. The aim is to aid triathletes in their purchasing of a neoprene suit – so that in future this process will be ‘more transparent and more comprehensible.’
Triathlon coach Roy Hinnen explained, “The common belief is that every swimmer is different. So, for every swimmer there is a special neoprene wetsuit. This is just, per se, wrong. If you take all the triathletes in the market you will find five or six main areas in which they struggle. For example, low hip, lack of a stretch, bad leg work and so on.
“From this, you can form groups. That’s what we did. Out of those groups, you can find the best and most suitable wetsuits.
“So, you can put all of the triathletes in the world into five or six groups, identifying their main swim weaknesses. From this point, you can find the right neoprene for them, which helps to eliminate their weaknesses in the water.
“We tested a baseline in the water without a wetsuit, with the wetsuits, and we looked at oxygen uptake by the athletes. It was an extensive test, run over four days; the biggest test ever done, covering 38 wetsuits from 13 different suppliers over the four-day period.
“Going forwards, we will reproduce the test. We will source a mask to analyse oxygen uptake while swimming, not just immediately after the swim. This will give us more data. In the future, we will also work with smart pads to measure arm and leg force to drill deeper into where propulsion comes from.”
Main swimmer groups / weaknesses:
- Too little push to the rear
- Poor position in the water
- Too little leg kick
- Arms too far away from the body
- Arm pull too deep in the water
Based on analysis of individual swimmers in the category ‘poor position in the water’, it was found that the differences between wetsuits can have a marked effect on the economy or energy consumption of the swimmer.
Drilling further into specific weaknesses for the ‘poor position in the water’ group, the testing found that a swimmer with ‘hips too deep’ saves about 7% more energy with the Aquaman Cell Gold wetsuit (priced at €680) compared with the Sailfish Ultimate (€875).
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