Internal Mono(b)log

Today I finally got a chance to take my Nineteen Swimsuits Frequency suit into open water for a real™ test.

I went in the morning as the weather forecast for the day was for dropping temps and deteriorating weather conditions as the day progressed. The sun was trying to shine and it wasn’t raining (yet), when I got to Lake Kelso. I quickly donned my suit, put my Timex Global Trainer in swim mode and put it under my mask strap and, anticipating very cold water, put a neoprene swim cap on my head to try to mitigate “ice cream headache”.

Well, the water was cold, but manageable. My hands, feet and face, were uncovered but not icy cold or even really uncomfortable. I’d guess the water to be in the low 50sº F (~ 10ºC). I managed to get in an hour before the clouds started to really move in and I started thinking it was prudent to get out of the water and to my clothes, before rain moved in. Got nearly 2.5km in and felt pretty good.

Now, to the suit review (part 3). (You can find the previous entries: here (part 1) and here (part 2)).

Putting on the suit today I found myself marvelling at how well it fits. Putting it on today over a tri-suit the suit just came on. Sure a little effort was required to get it sitting “just right”, but if that wasn’t required at all, I’d assume that the suit was improperly sized. Once on, the suit feels so good. It moves with you, doesn’t bind, stretches in all the right ways. On shore, I started to get warm pretty quick, so moving to the water was prudent and quickly done

In the water, the suit took on the thin layer of insulating water at a comfortable tempo (not so quickly that I felt unprotected, but not so slowly that I felt I’d be waiting forever during a shore-start for the suit to water-balance). Once swimming, I’m reminded of the benefits of the variable thickness neoprene that the suit is made with: hip rotation it aided by thicker neoprene on the legs, long catch, high elbows and full extension on the stroke are all aided by the more flexible thinner neoprene on the arms and the expanding wing material. More, the thicker neoprene on my legs, I think, helped keep my legs warm and uncramped in the cold water, even though I’m not much of a kicker.

Getting out of the water, the sun was pretty much gone and the wind was picking up, I was happy that doffing this suit is easily managed. I stripped it off, simulating a T1 strip-off in only a few seconds (maybe 10-15 seconds if I were timing). So even though the suit fits well, provides good thermal and swimming support, it still comes off easily to get you on with the rest of the race.

The Frequency suit is the top of the line from Nineteen and, in my opinion, it’s fit, finish, and features, put it squarely in that category. If you’re on the market for a suit, definitely seek out the Nineteen Frequency and make sure you consider it for your needs.