Triathlon Race Suits - What's The Difference?

There are many different triathlon race suits and swimming wetsuits on the market but which one is for you? Let's start at what type of racing you do because Triathlon is split into a few different distances of racing.

For most of us we start at the Sprint Distance Triathlons. This consists of a 400m Swim / 14km Bike / 4Km Run. There are many of these races around the country that will put on this distance race (Some have beginner triathlons which are shorter than this).

Next, we have Olympic Distance Triathlons these are distances of 1500m Swim / 40km Bike / 10Km Run. Here we move into longer distances aptly named Long Distance Racing. The most common distances for this type of racing are 2km Swim / 80-90km Bike / 20-21Km Run.

Finally it's Ultra Distance. This is commonly called… IRONMAN: The Big Daddy of them all / The Ultimate Sporting Challenge. Consisting of 3.8km Swim / 180.2km Bike / 42.2Km Run. What’s this to do with race suits? Well, race suits for me falls into 2 categories:

1. Short Course: Up to and including Olympic.
2. Long Course: Everything above.

The differences:

• Short Course suits have no pockets. They are slick Lycra material suits. Sometimes are made more like a swimming suit and made of faster, swimming specific material. In the men’s the zip is sometimes on the back.
• Long Coursesuits tend to come with pockets. These are small pockets that mould into the shape of the suit. Sometimes they are made of a mesh material so when swimming in the suit, they don’t become a small parachutes that will slow you down. The main reason for these pockets is for a place to hold your nutritional needs during longer races. Also the suits tend to be a more structured suit to handle the longer time you will be in the suit.

There is no right or wrong. I know many who wear their Long Course suit in smaller races and there Short Course suit in longer races. This will give you a guide when looking into what suit is for me. Check our range of triathlon race suits andswimming wetsuits to find the suit that best fits your activity.

(My name’s Brett Jackson and I work here at Wetsuit Warehouse. I’ve been racing Triathlons for around 15 years, racing all distances from Sprint (400m Swim / 14km Bike / 4Km Run) through to Ironman (3.8km Swim/182Km Bike/42.2Km Run). I’ve raced all over Australia and in New Zealand)