How should your Viper swimskin fit? The quick answer: Tight. Really tight. But you still should be able to breathe comfortably.
(Check out the video below for a full demonstration on swim skin fit.)
Your swimskin is designed to help you swim faster and more efficiently in non-wetsuit legal swims. It does this in several ways. The two big ways related to fit:
1. It smooths over your tri kit’s wrinkles to reduce drag.
2. It compresses your core and upper legs to help keep you in the optimal swim position throughout your race.
Especially late in a race, swimmers start to fatigue. When that happens, they tend to snake back and forth instead of staying streamlined, creating drag with their own bodies. A tight swimskin will help keep you straighter through the core.
How long should it take to put a swimskin on?
Three to four minutes is totally normal. You should have to work the material on the same way you do a wetsuit: Up the legs, over the hips, up the arms.
Note: The fit on land is a bit different than in the water.
When you swim, your chest measurement around the rib cage will narrow 1 to 2 inches just by having one arm extended above the head. In other words, your chest is smaller when you are swimming than when you’re standing on land, because you're extended.
The arms might also feel a bit funny hanging by your sides on land, because we designed the swimskin with the same patented ARMS-UP tech that’s in our wetsuits. All of our Viper swimskins and Maverick wetsuits are designed for ultimate shoulder freedom when your arms are above your head, swimming.
Can I size up if my swimskin feels too tight?
The tight performance fit isn’t for everyone.
If you want a fit that’s more like your training swimsuit, you can size up a full size in the swimskin, and it still should not be baggy. Find that sweet spot of performance and comfort that’s right for you. Then go out and have an epic swim!
Learn more and see the fit in action:
