Swimming In A Wetsuit

The pool heater continues to be broken and I've yet to hear when it will be fixed. Luckily I was informed that the water temp would once again be in the low 70º range and we had the option to bring a wetsuit. It's not recommended to use a wetsuit in a pool since the chlorine has negative effects. I'm not sure exactly what happens, but most manufacturers state that this will void the warranty. I took a chance and rinsed it immediately, soaked it once I got home and then rinsed again. Wetsuit still looks new and should hold up as long as I continue to thoroughly rinse it. With that said, I don't want the use of a wetsuit to be a regular occurrence.

So how was my first time swimming with a wetsuit?
As far as staying warm, it makes a difference. I've got a sleeveless version and the cold water didn't bother my arms at all. My legs and torso were comfortable. Occasionally I would stretch out the chest panel and water would flow in, that's when you'd notice the difference. The seals around the arms did a great job of preventing the flow of water from entering the wetsuit.

The other noticeable difference is the speed. You swim faster in a wetsuit than without it. I was swimming with another guy that is faster than I am and he chose to swim without a wetsuit. I was able to catch up to him within 50 meters. I never could have done that without a wetsuit. What was also noticeable was how the wetsuit positions you in the water and demonstrated to me what proper form should feel like. I could feel my feet kicking right at the surface and allowing my torso and head to remain low, thereby generating more speed.

The problem I had was getting used to the wetsuit and my breathing. We were doing 100 meter sprints. I would do fine up until 75 meters when I found that I wasn't getting enough air and actually swallowed a bit of water and hung out at the wall coughing for a bit before finishing the last 25 meters in that set. I kept having the same problem. For some reason, when I would pick up the pace, my breathing fell apart. I think I was taking shallow breaths or holding my breath, but something wasn't working. I kept feeling like tearing off the wetsuit. I felt a tightness in my chest like I couldn't breathe. I've felt this before. The first time I felt this was when I did my first open water swim and I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. Basically it's a bit of anxiety, but I've always kind of felt that at the start of an open water swim, then I relax and I'm fine. It's also why I do a warmup swim before a race. So I swam another 100 meters and took it slow and easy. I was able to take a breath every 4 strokes instead of 3. It felt good and comfortable. Then I picked up the pace and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air and that led to some anxiety. So it may not be that I'm not used to the wetsuit. It may be that my technique is to blame. Coach pointed out again that I have a tendency to not raise my elbow out of the water enough and that causes my hand entry to be off as well. So somethings not working and I need to fix it.

The solution is to add another day of swimming during the week where I can focus specifically on my technique and breathing. I'm going to look up some swimming drills before I go to the pool and concentrate on executing those properly. I may pass up the group swim and work on my own for a while until I feel I've improved my technique. I understand to swim fast you have to practice swimming fast, but right now, if I can't swim with the proper technique, I don't think I'm going to get any faster. I'm going to figure out my problem, work on it and fix it.