Wetsuits are just wetsuits, right? Wrong. Yes, they’re skin-tight suits that keep you warm in cold water by trapping a layer of water between your skin and the wetsuit. Yes, they’re mostly made from neoprene, but there is a large amount of difference between a wetsuit for surfing for example and a swimming wetsuit, like the Alpkit Lotic model here, built for triathlons and open water swims.
British company Alpkit have teamed up with Dean Jackson, the founder of triathlon wetsuit company Huub, and the Outdoor Swimming Society to create a wetsuit made especially for open water and adventure swimming.
“The Lotic wetsuit is made with a shiny glideskin neoprene which creates a more streamlined movement through the water.”
The Lotic is built differently to other wetsuits. Winter surfing wetsuits for example are usually thick (up to 6mm) as they’re designed to keep you warm even when you’re sitting still out the back of the line-up. But the design of the Lotic prioritises flexibility – the assumption being that if you’re swimming in open water, you’ll be moving constantly, and if you’re racing in a triathlon, you’ll be working hard! Cleverly, the thickness and flexibility of the neoprene is layered differently around the body, so as to enhance your swimming experience.
