Why SCTA wear Xterra Wetsuits

27/2/2016

Toby Coote , Head Coach of Sunshine Coast Triathlon Academy / Hybrid Concepts Australia explains why he has chosen Xterra Wetsuits as the choice of wetsuit / speed suit / training accessories for his athletes.

To give you an understanding of Toby's background he came from Surf Life Saving starting as an 8 year old nipper and rose thru the ranks. A water competitor where he excelled in the Surf Swim, Board Paddle and Ironman Events. With a strong swim he chose to pursue Triathlon and in 1995 represented Australia at the Junior Elite World Championships and went on to race Professionally for the next 5 years.
A regular of leading out swims or in front pack's. Toby has a vast knowledge of open water swimming where he has worked with Professional Athletes and Teams, International Triathlon Union (ITU) Camps and thru his own Coaching on the Sunshine Coast. In 2000 at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships, Toby finished 5th in the restricted (over 25 Years) Surf Race final and 15th in the Open Surf Race Final.

Toby's past 13 years he has been Head Coach of the Sunshine Coast Triathlon Academy and a commentator at Ironman Asia Pacific events.

Over the years I have tried out a lot of wetsuits. So what makes a good wetsuit? Firstly I look for flexibility, especially in and around the shoulder area and Secondly, Buoyancy, having the right thickness in the right areas. Thirdly, Quality and Price.

Having meet Xterra Wetsuits at 2015 Asia Pacific Ironman Championships at Melbourne thru my role of Ironman Live Spotter, I got talking with Sam Fox (Xterra Australia and Titan Performance Group) where he showed me the New Xterra Vengeance Wetsuit. My first look was "Wow" the is some serious wetsuit. As I chatted more and looked at a few key issues I always look at when selecting a wetsuit, the more impressed I was with the suit.

Key Issue # 1 - Flexibility
What I look for here is how flexible the rubber is in and around the shoulder joint. Why you ask? if it is tight in this area you are wasting energy in your swim, fatiguing arms results in poor efficiency especially towards the end of Swim, more so in an Ironman. The more energy we save here helps in the back end of the Marathon.

In my opinion this is the most flexible wetsuit that I have ever used. It is like having a second skin on. There is no restriction and allows you to achieve that same swim stroke you have when not wearing a wetsuit.

Key Issue # 2 - Buoyancy
This is major issue especially for non swimmers. With a lot of athletes these days doing Ironman races and coming from non swimming backgrounds, the more buoyant you are in a wetsuit the faster time gains you will see opposed to a non wetsuit swim. The big issue I see here is a lack of kicking, dragging of the legs and core stability. Being buoyant takes the pressure off the swim stroke therefore becoming more efficient.

Once again the Xterra Vengeance Wetsuit has the right thickness of rubber in the right areas to address this. It’s like swimming with a big pool buoy, holds the core in the right places for maximum efficiency and allows your body position in the water to be that of a swimmer.

Key Issue # 3 – Quality and Price
No point having to sacrifice your savings for a top quality wetsuit that won’t last you for a while. The Xterra Vengeance and the entire Xterra wetsuit range covers both bases here with a very affordable top quality wetsuit that you will be impressed with.

If you are about being seen, then the Xterra Vengeance is for you. With silver arms for the boys and pink for the girls, you will be seen out in the swim pack. Makes it a lot easier for your loved ones and spectators to see where you are!! And for the commentators as well.

Two other products that we have used in the Xterra Range is the Lava Pants and Speed Suit.

Lava Pants are perfect for swimmers with heavy legs especially after a big weekend of training. It gives you that pool buoy feeling, but without the restriction and allows you to be able to keep that normal kick going. I use it on the athletes when they are tired, to help with the body position and also in speed sessions.

It allows the athlete to get up in the water and take the pressure of the shoulders while under load and at speed. It is a great tool to be supplemented into a swimming program (especially for non swimmers), but not to be relied on. It works well with swimmers / athletes with pre-existing shoulder problems by taking that load off the problem areas. A very useful coaching tool when used at the right times within the program.

Speed Suit are very useful in non wetsuit swims. The speed suit will help you with the buoyancy that we talked about with the wetsuit, it helps to maintain that core stability and body position in the water. The water repels off the fabric which also reduces the friction that normal lycra causes in the water. Which results in more efficiency and faster swim times.

This is what Sunshine Coast Tri academy / Hybrid Concepts Australia Junior Scholarship recipient, Jake Hynes, had to report on the Xterra Vengeance and Xterra Speed Suit

The Xterra vengeance wetsuit is by far my favourite wetsuit with the ease of movement through the arms yet supportive allows my swim stroke to be able to stretch out and catch more water that also enables me to glide through the water with more ease than other wetsuits i have previously used.

While I have only done a handful of races in the wetsuit, my swim times have been massively improving and it is no coincidence that my transition times have also improved because of the flexibility of the suit it allows me to take off the wetsuit quickly and easily.

The Xterra speed suit has also been brought out in my last couple of races in the warming weather, my swim with the suit on has also been a massively improving with the results having me come out near the front of the pack and in some cases leading the swim leg into T1. The speed suit not only feels fast but actually IT IS FAST, improving my times and improving my swim position drastically which ultimately sets up the race. The speed suit is also very easy to get out of in transition which allows me to keep good position in to the bike leg.

This is my first speed suit that I have used, but in saying that I love it. There isn’t anything that I would change about it, its easy to use, its fast #Freespeed and it looks good too.

So there you have we have chosen Xterra as our choice of wetsuit and speed suit of the SCTA Squad #Freespeed