Review: Pentax Optio W80 Waterproof Camera

I got the Pentax Optio W80 as a Christmas present and it took me a while to actually get it wet. I was kind of nervous that it wouldn’t work, generally electronics and water don’t go together so well. Once I got it into the pool I had to bring it everywhere with me… it’s so cool! I had picked out this particular camera thanks to a recommendation Glenn Mills from GoSwim had made in an interview I did with him last year. The W80 is a really easy camera to use, takes pretty decent pictures, and I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a waterproof camera for personal use… if you’re a pro photo type I don’t think it’s going to cut it for you in the picture quality department.

According to Pentax the W80 is waterproof, shockproof, dustproof and cold proof. I’ve only tested 2 of those personally. Mine has spent plenty of time underwater and has been tossed around in my swim bag a lot. Technically it’s a 12 megapixel camera and takes really big pictures. When you get up close in detail they aren’t super sharp, but again for a regular person not a big deal. By virtue of being totally waterproof there is only optical zoom on this camera so zooming in from far away isn’t going to lead to great pictures.

I think the camera’s strong suit is underwater pictures and movies while the sun’s up. It takes gorgeous pictures while submerged in the sunshine. It’s functional in the dark but the picture quality isn’t going to be as good. The video works in the dark too, but it gets very grainy when you’re working with low light situations. While we’re talking video, the sound on the camera isn’t so hot. It works, but it’s not impressive. Another thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes it has a hard time focusing in video when the subject isn’t obvious. I’ve done some videos where I leave the camera in a stationary spot and swim past it. I think the camera ends up not focusing on anything because it can’t pick anything to focus on.

The camera retails for about $250 but you can find it on sale out in the internetz for closer to $180. My next project is to figure out how to tether this camera to me while swimming so that I can bring it into the ocean with me!

I’ve included a bunch of pictures and video that I’ve taken over the last few weeks in different situations to give you an idea of what this camera is capable of. To see full size pictures click on them to open them up.

no sun, poor focus

Submerged in full sunshine

Above water close to subject in full sunshine

Landscape during daytime

underwater in the dark with flash

outside in the dark

February 14, 2010 | 1 Comment »

FINIS SwiMP3 Review

The nice people over at FINIS sent me a big box full of awesome today. The first swim toy I got to try out was their waterproof MP3 player the SwiMP3. Once I got home from work I broke it out of the box, skimmed the directions, loaded it up with death metal, and made my way out to the pool to see how it held up to some swimming.

I have to admit I always thought the SwiMP3 was a little odd looking, probably because it’s an MP3 player that doesn’t have ear buds. It transmits tunes via bone conduction which turns out to be way more awesome than anticipated. The big downfall of most other aquatic MP3 players is that once the seal is broken between your ear and the ear bud the music on that side of your head is pretty much done for. Since this doesn’t need to be inside your ear you don’t have that problem which I really like.

The other thing that I thought would be a problem is keeping the device flat against my head. There’s a guy that I’ve seen at open water swims up north who wears one and it always looked like it would be prone to flopping around on the side of your head while you’re trying to swim… luckily it doesn’t! It manages to stick to your noggin pretty well, even while doing flip turns. Not having to constantly fidget with my music while swimming is a big plus. I want music to be a supplement to what I’m doing, not a distraction.

I swam a variety of stuff just to see how it held up. All four strokes, some underwater kicking, and a couple of sprints. The SwiMP3 does best with stokes where at least one side of your head in in the water at all times. I had zero problems with freestyle and backstroke. Breaststroke and Fly were a little odd just because the sound changes a bit between being submerged and being totally out of the water. It’s not really a problem so much as a quirk. Through all my swimming the unit managed to stay in place without any problem. I give it an “A” in swimmability.

When you get down to sound quality I think it’s totally adequate. If you’re a big audiophile you won’t be happy… with any waterproof MP3 player… ever. Water mixed with electronics is generally a recipe for disaster so I’m willing to take some loss of audio quality to get my music in the water without electrocuting myself or short circuiting an MP3 player.

The only major thing that I am not totally happy with is iTunes compatibility. If you don’t use iTunes or have an iPod feel free to ignore this paragraph… Basically iTunes does this not so cool thing where it converts your music files to a proprietary format that only Apple products can use. If you want to use a non Apple product and all your songs are in the iTunes format you have to go through the hassle of converting files to MP3. FINIS has a walk through on how to do this in both Windows and on a Mac on their website. Once you get past this step it’s pretty easy to load up music on to the SwiMP3.

Overall first impressions are good and I dig the SwiMP3. It’s not perfect, but compared to my other waterproof MP3 player (H2O Audio Interval) it is way easier to swim with because you don’t have to worry about ear buds flooding or falling out. Of the two waterproof MP3 players I have right now, this one is the one I like better.

The SwiMP3 currently retails for $149.99, but RobAquatics readers get a 20% discount on purchases made from FINISinc.com with the coupon code robaquatics09!


The SwiMP3 in the package


all the controls are on one of the “speakers”


the computer business end of the SwiMP3



side view of rocking out in a waterproof fashion

December 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »

First Night Out with My New Monofin

I really missed swimming with a monofin… too much fun! I love the feeling of going that fast in the water!

After blowing up my old monofin on Monday I went looking for some help on what style of monofin to replace it with. After consulting with Glenn from GoSwim, the Fortress, and having a conversation with Finis via Twitter the general consensus was I needed the shorter shooter style fin. I ordered it on Tuesday and by Thursday I had my new fin!

The Shooter is a lot shorter than my old trainer style monofin, but it still generates a TON of thrust in the pool. The nice part about the shorter fin (and let’s be real, it’s still pretty big) is that you can kick at a race pace. When you use a bigger fin the kick isn’t the same rhythm/motion as you would use in real life without fins on.

I think I freaked out the other people in the pool tonight with this thing. There were two people walking laps in the good lanes (I got the jacked up lane that’s supposed to be for walking) with shoes and t-shirts on. Once I strapped the monofin on I was tearing up the pool in ways they’ve never seen and were having a hard time comprehending. I swam a few hundred yards with the fin and I mainly did underwater kicking but I did mix in some butterfly which was awesome. We’re talking like 4 strokes/25. I want to play with this thing in a deeper pool to practice my breaching :)

One thing that I need to work on though is getting some kind of foot coverage. That rubber is pretty rough on the tops of my feet. I should have bought some of those little footie things… I guess that’s next on the list of goofy swim stuff I need to go buy :) Anyways… long story short, I have a crush on my new fin and wish I could swim this fast in real life!

November 6, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Schwimmerhosen Showdown!

26JAN10 Update: FINIS is currently selling their Hydrospeed line for $20 per suit regardless of style! View men’s suits here and women’s suits here


TYR Fusion 2 vs Finis Hydrospeed 2

Somewhere in the last 30 days or so I managed to pick up 2 pairs of swim leggings and I finally got them wet in the last 2 days. My first buy was a pair of TYR Fusion2 Tights just to try out the legging style. My second pair was an impulse purchase I made in the big blowout sale Finis is in the middle of having right now.

Tonight I swam in the TYR Fusion2 suit that I picked up for about $67 (retail is $92)at SwimOutlet. It is a size 36 and it’s really snug. I’m about 5′9″ and the suit hit right at my ankles, if you’re a taller dude the suit is going to probably stop a few inches further up your leg. This fits pretty well in the legs, but it is severely lacking in the “junk” region if you know what I mean. Although the compression is good and the suit is slick it didn’t feel that fast in the water. I think the Fusion fabric feels more appropriate for a workout suit than a racing suit. I will say however that like every other TYR swimsuit I’ve tried out, the suit construction is outstanding. TYR builds really solid suits. This one just didn’t stack up to how my TYR Tracer Light feels in the water. They do make a Tracer Light Tight which may be more worth buying for racing if you don’t want to go fullbody.

Last night I swam in the Finis Hydrospeed 2 tight that I bought for $30 on sale (retail is $159) straight from Finis. I was much more impressed with this suit. This was also a 36 but it was bigger than the TYR suit. The waist was a little more true to size, but the legs ran much longer. It bunched up just a little bit on me behind the knees. I really dig the material that the suit is made out of (see the close up on the left). It’s really slick to the touch and it feels really good in the water. When I was first getting used to it I felt like my girlfriend’s wiener dog. When the dog starts running her back half starts to catch up to her front half, I felt like my legs were going faster than the rest of my body. It’s an odd sensation.

Of the two suits I like the Finis one way more. It felt good through all strokes except breaststroke. I still prefer the feel of a fullbody suit, but I may try a few races in leggings to see what happens.

Anybody else try either of these suits or have another pair of leggings that they are a super fan of?

September 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Quick Book Report: ‘Young Woman and the Sea’

I recently received a copy of the book ‘Young Woman and the Sea‘ by Glenn Stout courtesy of the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. It’s kind of like the ‘Old Man and the Sea’ except with less old people, more women, and no fishing… ok, so I guess it was nothing like ‘The Old Man and the Sea,’ but the story is still very gripping. It revolves around Trudy Ederle who was the first woman to swim the English Channel.

I finished reading it last night and I have mixed feelings about it. The story itself is outstanding. Following Trudy from being a child that loved water, to a stand out swimmer, Olympian, and finally English Channel swimmer and fastest crossing record holder. The book also dove into the history and politics surrounding swimming at that time, and the struggle of female athletes for mainstream acceptance. I really learned a lot of interesting tidbits reading this book. I think the thing I like so much about Trudy is that she threw herself into all of her swimming exploits because she loved it, not because she wanted the fame or fortune that could accompany it at the time. The thing I didn’t really dig that much was the writing style of the author. I realize I’m nitpicking here, but there were parts for me where the writing distracted from the story.

Fair warning, reading this book will make you want to swim the English Channel. It’s inevitable. I’m already deciding whether I should start from England or France… maybe I should worry about my next 1 mile open water swim first, huh? :) Now that I’m done I going to pass it along to my favorite English Channel swimmer and see what she thinks about it. If you want to get yourself a copy you can buy it here.

August 8, 2009 | 2 Comments »

Review of Go Swim’s ‘Freestyle with Jason Lezak’ DVD

I just finished watching Go Swim’s ‘Freestyle with Jason Lezak,’ and it is an excellent swim video! For those of you unfamiliar with Jason Lezak, he’s the guy that brought home the epic men’s 4×100m freestyle relay with a come from behind win against the world record holder by swimming the fastest relay split of all time. I would say he’s a qualified expert on the art of the freestyle!

The video of the actual swimming itself is outstanding. Go Swim captured Lezak from all angles to give you as many vantage points as necessary to figure out how Jason does what he does. They filmed him from above, below, beside and everywhere else you could think of. The content and the chapters are well laid out as well. There’s basically 6 lessons to go through focusing on things like balance, kicking, speed, focus, etc. The voice over work is done by Lezak and it is well scripted. The only thing I didn’t really like was the music. At first I was ok with it… an hour later the riff it plays between segments is permanently burnt into my brain.

Beyond the core content, there are a few bonus features. There is a section for starts and one for turns. These are pure video however, no narration. You also get some casual interview action with Jason on topics like nutrition, the Olympic experience, training habits, etc. There were some pretty interesting nuggets hidden in here. I especially liked hearing that he swims around 3-3500 yards/meters in a workout most days. I think he prescribes to the same school of thought that I do, smarter not harder.

Since I mainly swim un-coached, stuff like this is really valuable for me. To see the way an elite sprinter moves in the water from so many angles gives me lots of ideas on how to improve my stroke and get faster. Lezak’s stroke might look a little unorthodox with his big gallop and wide open hands, but you can’t argue with the results. The other thing that really stood out to me was his kick, it’s insane. I want to be able to kick like that while swimming someday!

Anyways, I dig this DVD and if you’re into this kind of thing it’s worth the dough. You can get your hands on a copy here from GoSwim. If you want to see a little of the video, check out the trailer below. If you’re not familiar with the work Go Swim does, I highly advise you go check out their website. They offer lots of great swimming content and plenty of free short videos that you can watch online.

July 21, 2009 | 2 Comments »

SportCount Combo Review


Showing the Lap Total

I’m notoriously bad at keeping count while swimming. I loose track on short course 200s! I’ve been wanting something to help me keep count for a while, especially on days where I just do solid swims. I had seen people talk about the SportCount online a few times and decided to give it a shot.

The SportCount is basically a waterproof ring that counts laps and time. The SportCount has 4 versions to it: Counter, Stopwatch, Combo and Chrono 100. I picked the Combo model which is the upper mid-range of their line up. It tracks time, laps, average lap time, and you fastest and slowest lap. If you upgrade to their top of the line model it will track individual lap times up to 100 laps. Personally I would skip the Counter and Stopwatch models because they only do one function or the other, it’s worth the extra 5 bucks to get both functions in one device.


The SportCount fully opened

I bought it on the SportCount website for $29.95 with $5 shipping. Seems kind of expensive, but nobody else makes a comparable product so I guess it’s fair enough. I received my fun new gadget super fast. It shipped from the East coast and was in my mailbox within 3 days of ordering it online.

The unit itself is a little bulky but not too big. When you’re fitting it I would recommend setting it one notch tighter than you would on dryland. Once you get in the water you’ll want it just a touch tighter.

The SportCount is very easy to use. There is 1 button. Push it and it counts a lap. Easy. When you’re done with your swim there are a few functions that you can cycle through. I would learn how this works at home before you go to the pool. It will only take you a few minutes to get the hang of.

While distracting at first, once you get the hang of things you don’t really notice the SportCount anymore as long as it is sufficiently tight on your finger. I wear it canted slightly towards my body so that it is easier to tap with my thumb while I am doing a flip turn.

I have a few small gripes with the SportCount. First off, it is difficult to read in the pool during low light situations. When I do swims that I would bring the SportCount along for it’s usually dark in the pool, but honestly that’s problem that is probably unique to me. The other thing that isn’t ideal is that you have to break your streamline in a fairly awkward way to actually read the display. If you want to know how fast each lap was as it happens this will drive you nuts. I would probably get the Chrono model to keep record of individual lap times for you. Lastly there is no pause function. So if you are doing some kind of interval style workout the fastest, slowest and average lap functions are pretty much useless for that workout.


How I wear it when I swim

Overall I like it. It’s easy to use, functional, and seems to be very solidly constructed. It’s a good buy if you swim a lot of distance by yourself.

July 15, 2009 | 5 Comments »

H2O Audio Interval Waterproof iPod System Review


My new H20 Audio Interval and iPod Shuffle

Today I was in Target and I was surprised to see a small display with H20 Audio products. They had their headphones, cases that attach to goggle straps, and arm bands. I’ve always wanted to try out some of the latest generation waterproof music devices but I’m highly skeptical of how well they work. A long time ago I had a late 90’s Speedo brand waterproof radio that was a total hunk of crap that kind of soured me to the whole idea. Anyways… I saw their display and my impulsive nature started to kick in, I decided that this would be a belated birthday present to myself. The H2O Audio Interval itself is $79.99, not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but much less than a lot of the other aquatic MP3 players… The catch is that it does not come with the MP3 player! It’s just a waterproof case with integrated headphones, you need to supply your own 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle. At the moment you can pick up a Shuffle for under $50, I got mine for $48.79. So total price was $128.78 plus tax which is about par for the course when you compare it to other systems.


The Interval System


Inside view


With iPod installed

When I got home I opened everything up and read all the directions. I didn’t want to make a dumb mistake that cost me an iPod, even a cheap one! The Interval’s directions recommend doing a soak test to make sure the unit works before you insert the iPod. So I got a small container and filled it with water and left the Interval in there while I loaded up the iPod. I made sure to hold the Interval underwater for a while (it floats) and play with all the buttons. After about 30 minutes of messing around with iTunes I took the Interval out of the water. After drying off the case I opened it up. Totally dry. No leaks. Now that I knew it actually worked it was time to take it to the pool.


soak test

At the pool I got the unit strapped to my goggles (TYR Socket Rockets with a regular flat rubber strap) which was pretty easy. I did have to tighten up my straps quite a bit however to ensure the Interval wouldn’t drag my goggles right off my head. The buttons on the back of the unit are very easy to manipulate, I got the music playing, and jumped in the pool hoping for the best. I hit the water without incident. Everything was working and the music was pumping. Phew!

I wanted to swim all strokes at a variety of speeds. Although the Interval didn’t hold perfectly still it did hold up just fine to flip turns, butterfly and anything else I could think of. It did tend to move down the back of my head to a lower position that I usually wear my straps, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Midway through I switched to a pair of goggles with a silicone strap and the unit still drifted downward a little bit but held much better than my plain rubber strap did.

The sound quality was far beyond my expectations. The headphones make a really solid seal with your ear canal and the sound is very clear. Obviously it’s not as good as what you’d have on dry land, but it’s not bad at all. The only downside I found to the headphones is that you can’t really hear anything else. Even if you turn off the music it would still be a struggle to hear someone talking to you, but I bought this for the days that I work out by myself so that’s not really a problem.

Another major bonus for the Interval is that since it uses an iPod it is iTunes compatible. No messing around with other software or changing file formats required! In online reviews of other waterproof MP3 players I’ve seen compatability issues to be a major gripe.


rear view on my goggle strap


Side View on my goggles

Overall I dig the H2O Audio Interval. Honestly I didn’t think I would, but it really surprised me with how well it worked. It’s not perfect, but it is very good. I wish it weren’t as bulky, but the newest iPod Shuffle is much smaller so if they develop a case for that I think it will be awesome. Longevity is another matter all together. I’m totally stoked with it on day one, we’ll see how long it really lasts. If I have a major failure I’ll make sure to update my review with it, but the design is so simple I don’t really see any problems in the near future.

You can get your hands on the H20 Interval in person at Target like I did or you can order it online.

**UPDATE 17JUN09: I came up with a fix for holding the unit in place. A latex swim cap does wonders. Read more

**UPDATE 18AUG09: I have been having problems with one of the earbuds staying in place. When they are firmly in the ear they sound pretty good, when the seal is broken… not so much. I’m experimenting with some different sized ear pieces to see if I can get this problem fixed.

June 15, 2009 | 6 Comments »

FWIW… My B70 Nero Comp Review

**I wrote this yesterday before the great suit debacle hit the internet earlier today. There is a lot of confusion and speculation surrounding B70’s complete absence from the new approved suit list from FINA. Frankly I have no idea what’s going to come of the whole situation, what masters is going to do, and by the looks of the list the fact that B70 isn’t on it is pretty fishy to me. I’ll try and keep the blog abreast of all the swimsuit drama as best I can. For what it’s worth, here’s my thoughts on the B70 swimskin having just purchased one myself 2 weeks ago.

***UPDATE: The blueseventy Nero Comp is legal in Masters until at least the end of 2009, it’s fate beyond that point is yet to be decided.

I’ve been swimming in a TYR Tracer Light since March and I am enamored with it. I’ve been B70 curious because I like the company and their word of mouth in the masters community is amazing. If you were at Nationals you probably noticed that the pool deck was a veritable sea of B70’s. Lots of my friends swim in them and swear by the results. Whenever somebody talks to me about my Tracer the next question typically is “how’s it compared to the B70?” After getting that question about 400 times I decided to see for myself. I don’t know anybody else that owns both, if you do please chime in with a comment on this post, I’m very curious how other people feel about it.

I purchased my B70 at Clovis because they were actually there with suits for me to try on. My build doesn’t fit into their general sizing and I didn’t want to make a $300+ mistake by ordering it online. The girl running their booth (Megan?) was very helpful and let me try on 2 different sizes, a 30 and a 32. The 30 was a hell of a struggle to get on. I almost gave up half way through. I managed to get the straps up over my shoulders and I walked myself back to the tent all sweaty and disheveled wondering if I was zippable. The girl from B70 took a crack at it and decided I needed to size up, this wasn’t going to happen and even if it did it would be too constrictive to actually swim in. She handed me a bigger size and after another considerable struggle I managed to get this one on me. It was still tight and not easy to zip up, but it was a little long. I managed to work it out later where I jacked the suit up higher to negate most of the length problem. Since I was wrapped in a chloroprene sausage casing with no desire to attempt to take it off I decided this was as good a time as any to finally buy one of these things. They were running a deal at nationals where you could buy the suit for $336 and get a free pair of goggles. Not a bad deal considering the $395 MSRP! Plus I figure this is my down payment on a next generation B70 in 2010 if this one is deemed illegal.

After parting with a healthy pile of money I made my way to the warm up pool to get a feel for the suit. Now I know why so many swimming purists are pissed off, it is very floaty. It felt like the first time I put on any kind of techsuit, except I’ve been wearing them since December. I felt like I had the most float on my legs. I did a few hundred yards to get warmed up and used to the suit and then waited for the 50 fly. I raced the 50 fly in the B70 and honestly my first impression was “meh.” I didn’t like it. I felt floaty, not faster. I didn’t have that magical swimming epiphany so many other people have had in their first B70′d race. I swam a best time, but just barely. I was kind of put off on the suit so I switched back to my Tracer Light for the 200 breast with the thought that I would use the B70 in my 50 free the next day and see how it went. My freestyle felt pretty good in the suit. I made another very small improvement in my time. I figured I might as well swim the 100 fly in it as well, see what happens. I really wish I hadn’t. Me, butterfly, and my B70 don’t mix well. I felt either a bubble or water sloshing inside the suit and it was really distracting to my swim. I swam slightly slower than my time at Pacific masters Championships last month and I felt like crap at that meet and I honestly feel like the suit cost me time at Nationals. So across 3 races I was basically even with my times in the Tracer Light. I also did the open water swim in my B70 and that went well. I think the suit suits me in freestyle, but not much else. This weekend just to get a full test by swimming every stroke, I swam a 50 of each stroke at the Santa Clarita LCM meet hoping to learn to like this suit some more, but it just didn’t happen.

The suit itself is well constructed and much more durable than I had expected. I’ve swam 7 pool events and an open water swim in it and I have no holes or trouble with seams. I really like B70, I own a B70 wetsuit and a few pairs of goggles, but their swimskins just aren’t built for a guy built like me. Even though it is very tight on me it seems to leak water when I butterfly which is not something I want to have to think about when I am sprinting.

Here’ my thoughts on whether you should get yourself one. If you are thinner and fit within their sizing chart I believe this could be a very fast suit for you. If you’re like me and little more… we’ll call it powerfully built :)… you could run into trouble. Now that I’ve swam in a few different bodysuits I think the cut and the way it fits you is much more important than what it’s made out of. I really wish suit manufacturers would build some suits with more “masters friendly” dimensions because, well, we buy a ton of this stuff! If you have the chance to swim in a borrowed techsuit before buying one I highly recommend it. If you swim in SPMA and would fit into a 32 I’ll let you try mine out because I’m pretty sure I’m done with it.

As it stands right now I think my B70 is in for early retirement, we’ll see what they come out with next year and I might give it a shot. In the meantime I am going back to my Tracer Light. It’s more realistically cut for a bigger guy and the suit construction is outstanding. I also think the compression in the Tracer is much more precise than in the B70. I’m 26 swims deep in my Tracer and when it finally gives out or I get bored of it, I think my next suit is going to be Tracer Rise as long as the price is reasonable (I’ve seen $400+ kinds of numbers, ouch!). I’m probably the 1 out of 10 that doesn’t like the B70 Nero, but it is what it is. I really wanted to love it, it’s just not the right suit for me.

So in a nutshell… for me Tracer Light > B70 Nero Comp

If you want to get yourself a B70, you can get one here.

**UPDATE 26JUL09: I put one of my teammates in my B70 for the USMS SW Zone LCM Championships and he loved it. He’s built a lot different than me and the suit really worked well for him. He’s a 6′4″ish former power-lifter so the suit fit him a lot better and he swam some really fast times in it.

**UPDATE 18AUG09: I’ve worn the Nero Comp in 2 more open water races and I really like it for open water. The only thing I don’t like is how often it gets mistaken for a wetsuit by people manning the finish chute. Each time I had to point out that it was NOT a wetsuit so that I could finish my race.

**UPDATE 3SEPT09: I’ve worn this suit for all my open water races this year and I love it in open water. I just recently bought a second B70 to use when this one finally gives out. Even if it gets outlawed in Masters it will make for an excellent open water training suit for when I go float around in the ocean locally.
May 20, 2009 | 2 Comments »

TYR Tracer Light Review


…I hope this thing is stronger than it looks…

This weekend was the first outing for my TYR Tracer Light. Overall I am very impressed with the suit and I had a great day in the pool with it. I swam 5 events and walked away with 5 best times – one by as much as 4 seconds! All told a pretty successful outing. I swam every stroke in it so I can vouch for it across all four competitive strokes. This is my second speed suit from TYR, my other one that I have been racing in is an Aqua Shift short john. So I can compare it to another speedsuit, but not another higher end suit like the Blueseventy or the LZR. I’d like to be able to, but I don’t think I want to be $1200 deep in speedsuits this season just in the name of science. (**UPDATE: I bought a blueseventy Nero Comp, check the review here)

Tracer Light BoxMy first impressions of the suit when I took it out of the box were: so that’s what $340 looks like, shouldn’t I get a fancier box, and I’m going to fit in that? I’m about the same weight as TYR poster boy Matt Grevers, but I’m also almost a foot shorter (he’s about 229 and 6′8″). So I bought the biggest size they had and hoped for the best. I figured that if he can get in one of these things so could I. If I were ten more pounds this would have never worked. I did a dry run of trying on of the suit when it showed up and I was really nervous about tearing it. It took a lot of work to get on but the material seems to be pretty resilient and the stitching is strong. I spent probably about 4 hours in the suit and swam 5 races with warm downs in between and I haven’t found any spots where the suit is starting give or fray. I think I’m going to get a lot of swims out of this suit. When I got to the meet this weekend it was a lot easier to get on, but still not what I would call easy. I can get all the way into the suit by myself but I can’t zip it. I need to think skinny and get a friend to help me get it closed. Thanks by the way to all the different people that helped me get zipped up!

My first race in the suit was a 50 fly. Up until I hit the water I hadn’t gotten the suit wet. Initially I could feel the difference of having my legs completely covered and I could kind of feel the suit not letting the water in. The weirdest sensation was this pocket of what was either air or water in the small of my back. I’m not sure if that is supposed to be there or if it’s a side effect of being too fat for the suit. I don’t think the bubble hurt or helped me, but it was distracting at first. Later in the day I didn’t really notice it at all. My first race was a best time in the 50 fly (which I swim at almost every meet) by about half a second.

Me in my Tracer LightAfter my race I got out and walked around a little bit and I was dry pretty much immediately. Water beads up on this thing like a freshly waxed car. I went and warmed down and I could feel the effect of the suit much more while freestyling. The compression in the core area is very precise and I felt like I rotated much better in the water.

My second race in the suit is where it really started to shine for me. I swam the 50 backstroke and as much as I suck at backstroke I have a really strong underwater dolphin kick. This suit rewards a good underwater streamline big time. I felt awesome underwater. I felt the same way in my 50 breaststroke on my pull downs, just smooth and fast. Because the suit is so tight on me I was concerned about it constricting my breaststroke kick, but I had no problems kicking at all. One thing that I did notice though is that my hips must have been a little higher than normal because my first kick after the turn was partially above water. I think the way the suit is cut kind of forces you into a better body position and I over compensated. You can see it at about 1:00 into the video I have from the race.

My last race of the day was the 100 IM and I shattered my personal best by about 4 seconds. I felt smooth and fast through the whole race, I also felt stronger than usual all the way to the end. At Irvine last month I was dying at the 50 mark. And for reference, here’s the progression of my 100 IM across the last 6 months: 1:17(SCM) in October wearing a plain jammer, 1:11 (SCY) in November in a plain jammer, 1:09 in February in a TYR Aqua Shift Short John, and 1:05 in March in a TYR Tracer Light. Every time I’ve swam the 100 IM it has been at the end of a meet so the conditions were similar for each swim. Obviously the suit didn’t do all of that time dropping, I’m still in a cycle of frequent time drops, but I think the suit helps.

Personally I think speedsuits have a small physical impact on swimmers of my caliber. However I think they have a huge impact mentally. That little added benefit I get from the suit helping my body position and making me feel faster translates into a confidence boost that makes me go faster. When I squeeze into a racing suit my body knows that it’s “go time” and I need to swim my hardest.

Overall I really like this suit and so far I’m glad I bought it. If I tear a hole in the back of it bending over to do a start I might change my mind. I hold grudges against equipment that fails on me… I’m still mad at my bike over a couple of consecutive flat tires back in February. But so far I don’t see this suit failing on me because it really does appear to be excellently constructed. $340 is a lot of dough, but it’s worth it if you really like swimming and swimming fast. The Tracer Light won’t automatically make you faster, you still need to train hard and swim fast, but it will definitely help you if you’ve prepared yourself appropriately.

If you want to try out a TYR Tracer Light SwimOutlet has them on sale here.

**UPDATE 5APR09: I have now worn this suit in 3 different swim meets in 13 different races. The suit still fits great and all the seams continue to be in one piece. The only thing that is a little off is I have a little extra space down by my ankles just above the foot opening. It’s not really a big deal but I do feel a light flutter down there occasionally. As I put in more races in this suit I will continue to update this post on how my Tracer Light holds up over time.

**UPDATE 22APR09: Wore the suit to Pacific Masters Championships and swam 6 events across 2 days. The suit continues to be very tight and the stitching is really impressive. No frays, holes, or tears. Swimming at 2 more meets this weekend in the Tracer Light.

**UPDATE 3MAY09: I wore the suit to SPMA Championships and a long course swim meet in San Luis Obispo. I’m up to 25 races and 7 days of swimming. The seams are still really impressive. I can feel the fabric has given just slightly. It’s still tight, but not quite as tight as it was when it was new. I’m planning on wearing the Tracer Light to USMS Nationals at the end of this week.

**UPDATE 26MAY09: I tried out the B70 in the name of science since it’s been so popular at masters meets. I swam in the B70 at 2 different meets and I like the Tracer Light better. You can read my B70 Nero Comp review here.

Also… FINA published its list of approved swimsuits recently and the TYR Tracer Light is approved through the rest of the year!

**UPDATE 16JUN09: I wore my tracer at the Mission Viejo LCM meet. This puts me up to 29 races in the suit. Still solid. No rips or tears, continues to fit well. I love this suit.

**UPDATE 14JUL09: I wore the Tracer at the Santa Barbara LCM meet. Now up to 35 races. Still solid, no problems.

**UPDATE 26JUL09: Wore the Tracer at the LCM USMS SW Zone meet. I swam 13 races which puts me up to 48 races in the Tracer Light! The suit is still doing good and I’m still swimming best times in it!

**UPDATE 27OCT09: I’ve worn my Tracer Light at 3 meets so far in SCM season, I’m now up to 57 races in the suit! It’s still hanging on and I’m still swimming best times in it. Of all the tech suits I’ve tried, it continues to be my favorite. The suit still doesn’t have any holes or tears, but I think in a few high stretch areas (especially the shoulder straps) I’m getting close to having some kind of fabric failure. It hasn’t happened yet, but I think another meet or two and I may have a problem.

March 10, 2009 | 8 Comments »
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