Physiological responses to swimming while wearing a wet suit

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Exercise Physiology
• Human Performance

Background:

• Wetsuits are commonly used in aquatic sports to provide thermal insulation.
• The impact of different wetsuit coverages on physiological responses during swimming is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how three distinct wetsuit designs affect oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE), and heart rate during front crawl swimming.
• To compare the physiological demands of swimming in a conventional suit versus full, long-sleeved, and short wetsuits.

Main Methods:

• Five male swimmers completed front crawl swimming at four different velocities in a swimming flume.
• Physiological responses were measured while wearing a conventional swimming suit (SS) and three wetsuit conditions: full body (FULL), long-sleeved (LONG), and short (SHORT).
• Water temperature was maintained at 26.5°C for all trials.

Main Results:

• All three wetsuit conditions resulted in significantly lower oxygen uptake (VO2) and minute ventilation (VE) compared to the conventional swimming suit (SS) across all tested velocities.
• The full-body wetsuit (FULL) showed significantly lower VO2 and VE than the short wetsuit (SHORT).
• Decreases in VO2 ranged from 16.2% (SHORT) to 33.6% (FULL), and VE reductions ranged from 14.6% (SHORT) to 24.2% (FULL) compared to the SS.

Conclusions:

• Wearing a wetsuit decreases oxygen uptake and minute ventilation during swimming at a given velocity compared to a conventional suit.
• The extent of physiological benefit is directly related to the amount of body coverage provided by the wetsuit.
• Wetsuits may offer performance advantages by reducing the metabolic cost of swimming.