Triathlon - What water temperature for a wetsuit?

Assuming I gather the guts to register, I'll have my first Aquabike this weekend. It's a mini of 400 meters and 14 miles. The swim is in a ski-lake with water temperature of 75-80 degrees, air temperature will be 80+.

Above what temperature do most forego the wetsuit?

I was planning to just swim in my regular TYR jammers , then change to bibs and a jersey? Will that work?

The distance is far too short to worry about wearing a wetsuit. I did a half ironman with most wearing wetsuits even though the water temperature was about 78 degrees. It was even warmer with the suit on which made the swim a bit uncomfortable.

Yeah, I wouldn't wear a wetsuit if the water was warmer than 68ish. Really the only reason for wearing a wetsuit in water that warm is for the help in bouyancy. Plus think of the time and effort you'd need to take it off. Enjoy your jammies, er jammers.

I wear a wetsuit for buoyancy as was pointed out, the break even point is somewhere around 8 minutes(long than 8 and you'll be faster swimming enough to make up for taking off the wetsuit; shorter and you won't make up the time). Wetsuits are usually comfortable in any water under 74 degrees from my experience.

I don't know that bibs are necessary, but it's your taint, not mine so that decision is up to you.

Thanks for the replies. I've been doing 500 meters in 10 minutes in the pool, admittedly not the same as open water, but I'm thinking I'll be okay with the jammies. My tri bike will be an Ultegra equipped Paramount with aero bars. At age 58 I'm not looking to win anything, only to build up to a full Aquabike within the next two years. My goal is one hour for this first attempt.

just a note, if the water is above 78 then the decision is already made for you by USAT rules. but that whole range i might not even wear one, 70 degrees is pretty warm, and i have heard of people getting too hot in wetsuits.

For 400m, don't worry about the wetsuit. For 14 miles on the bike, I wouldn't worry about changing to bibs either. Your jammers should be fine.

just a note, if the water is above 78 then the decision is already made for you by USAT rules. but that whole range i might not even wear one, 70 degrees is pretty warm, and i have heard of people getting too hot in wetsuits.

Thanks. I just found out that water temp is 82 and learned that USAT cutoff is 78.


For 400m, don't worry about the wetsuit. For 14 miles on the bike, I wouldn't worry about changing to bibs either. Your jammers should be fine.

So jump out, get the mud out of my toes, on with the shoes, towel down the swim trunks, put on a jersey and go?

So jump out, get the mud out of my toes, on with the shoes, towel down the swim trunks, put on a jersey and go?

No No No No No No No! first of all mud out of toes should not be a problem, and you might want to ignore that step anyway, go straight to shoes, What's this about trunks-i assume you mean jammers, in which case forget about toweling down (unless outside temperature is less than 50 degrees but based on the water temperature i assume it is not), and why would you put on a jersey if you already have one on?
I know you did not say you had one on but I HIGHLY recommend that you swim with a top on and
NOT TRY TO PULL ON ANYTHING WHILE WET IN T1!!!. It really just does not work out. I learned that the hard way.

So to review: jump out, put on shoes, put on helmet, go. you should do nothing else. in fact the fastest way is: jump out, put on helmet, go. but you might fall over trying to put your shoes on while riding.

I don't have a tri jersey so I'm still thinking about this jersey bit. We live a long way out of town so I have a five hour drive to the event, but I can probably pick up a tri jersey between now and then..somewhere. I'll have to think that out. By T1 do you mean Transition Area 1? I'm doing Aquabike so it's my only transition. Do most people swim in a tri jersey?

What about cycling gloves?

Following cjbruin's recommendations, today I come home, lay out shoes, helmet, gloves, glasses on the porch. Put on the jammers. Step into the shower to get all wet. Quickly towel off the legs so I don't track water through the house, pulling on a sleeveless bike jersey as I go. Road shoes with no socks. Helmet and gloves on, and off I go. No problem riding wet. Avg nearly 16 mph on the old Paramount. With my swim time I might be able to do this in one hour. Aero bars arrive tomorrow so I'll get one ride on them.

Thanks for all the advice.

:lol:


...... in fact the fastest way is: jump out, put on helmet, go. but you might fall over trying to put your shoes on while riding.

:lol::lol: Trust me, I would tump over.

if you are using a sleeveless cycling jersey, just use that as a tri top (assuming it is fairly tight fitting) T1 just means the first transition, and it usually means swim to bike. Most people will swim in tri tops, except for newbies or people who are wearing something else on top.

Leave the cycling gloves at home. You don't want to put ANYTHING on in transition.

What's funny about the fastest way to do about transitions, is that top age groupers and professionals actually do that. They leave their shoes clipped in on the bike and put them on in the first hundred yards of the bike.

I have seen recently that as of Sept 2010 the temperature for wetsuit legal races will be 76 degrees.