Tri Tip: How to put on a wetsuit

It can be one of the most challenging and stressful parts of race morning. Putting your wetsuit on doesn’t need to be an ordeal, though. While it can be time consuming, done the right way it can be relatively straightforward. There aren’t too many people on the planet who know more about wetsuits than Alex Deboer – yes, the guy who’s name you see on all those high-end suits worn by many top professional triathletes.

Wetsuit 101: Everything a triathlete needs to know about wetsuit tech

Here are his tips for getting a wetsuit on: 

• The first step is to double check your size. 
• The best way to get a wetsuit on is inside out and to start from bottom to top. 
• Roll the wetsuit up your legs. 
• Make sure the knees are aligned to the panels – they should be above and below your kneecap. 
• Roll the suit up further to your crotch. It should be almost uncomfortably high to start off with.  
• Roll it up over your hips.
• Then you put one arm (not two). Make sure the arm sits correctly. When you pull up the arm, don’t pull on the shoulder, pull from the arm end. Don’t use your nails, just roll the suit up. If you need to, blow a little bit of air into the sleeve.  
• Then put on the second arm.  
• Now it’s time to zip the suit up. Deboer wetsuits have a loop at the bottom of the zipper, put your thumb in that loop (if your suit doesn’t have a loop, try to hold the material at the bottom of the zipper) and pull the zipper. Try not to pull on the rubber around the zipper, and don’t bend over as you’re doing this, because it will put more stress on the neoprene. 
• Once the wetsuit is up, blow air in both arms and stretch out before you close the neck. 
• Don’t loop the strap at the end of the zipper underneath the strap at the neck. Many suits will have a Velcro tab you can attach the end of the zipper to. 
• If you find your suit is really tough to get off your ankles, you might want to cut it part way up the calf to make it a bit easier to get out of as you run to transition.

Wetsuit technology explained – what you’re looking for in a wetsuit

Deboer also points out that to get the most out of your day you don’t want to put water in your suit before you start – that will only weigh you down. 

While it all might look pretty simple, practice will certainly help, so make sure you’ve put your wetsuit on (and taken it off quickly) a few times before your race.