After originally declaring next week’s U.S. Open Water National Championships to be a no-wetsuit event, USA Swimming has amended its decision on Tuesday and adopted FINA’s wetsuit rule. From the announcement:
The decision to implement this new rule was decided based on recent water temperature readings at Castaic Lake and athlete safety being USA Swimming’s number one priority. The new rule reads that for water temperatures lower than 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit wetsuits will be required. For water temperatures above 68 degrees Fahrenheit wetsuits will not be allowed. Between 64.4 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit, wetsuits will be optional.
The official water temperature will be taken 2 hours prior to the start of the national 10k, national 5k, and junior national races. USA Swimming says that based on information from Los Angeles County Lifeguards, they anticipate that the temperature will fall in that optional gap of between 64.4 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit.
The new decision has also impacted the start times of next week’s 10k races:
- Men’s 10K – May 19th, 11 AM
- Women’s 10K – May 19th, 1:30 PM
- Men’s 5K – May 21st, 9:30 AM
- Women’s 5K – May 21st, 8:00 AM
Read more about the event here.
Wetsuit regulations:
- Wetsuits must be between 3mm and 5mm thickness
- Wetsuits must completely cover the torso, back, shoulders and knees and shall not extend beyond the neck, wrists, or ankles
- Sleeveless wetsuits would not be allowed, as they would not completely cover the shoulders.
- The full wetsuit rules can be read here.
https://www.usaswimming.org/utility/event-pages/event-detail/2017/05/19/default-calendar/open-water-national-championships
We had an awesome weekend for the Open Water Festival 2 weeks ago at Miromar Lakes. “Chamber of Commerce” weather. Good luck to all at US OW Nats!
Event should be held back in ft Myers
Well a lot of travel and such to rearrange with 10 days notice. Plus at some point these swimmers are going to have to deal with wetsuits per the new FINA rules.
I think USA Swimming’s failing here is not saying up front that FINA rules would apply. Instead the meet info has said specifically NO WETSUITS until today. I’ve been watching the temperatures in Castaic for over 2 months and it was clear it was likely going to be an issue especially with the snow melt and rain/cool conditions still occurring. The lagoon and lake were 61 3 weeks ago, which is below normal for the past few years.
It should always be held in Fort Myers. Gregg Cross and the team he puts together is always very professional and do an outstanding job. Plus they have the ability to do it fresh or salt water.
Heat is transferred to lower levels of lakes, ponds, and oceans largely by the circulation of the body of water. Water circulation is caused by the movement of water molecules between areas of different densities. Since water near the surface is less dense than water near the bottom, the water circulates, bringing the solar-heated water of the surface down into the body of water and heating the lower levels.The water near the surface and warmed by the Sun is less dense than water near the bottom, because density of water changes as the temperature of the water changes. The lower the temperature of water, the higher the density of that water—until around 4ºC. When sunlight strikes the surface of water,… Read more »
The swim is in the Castaic lagoon… This is not the main lake. I assume this lagoon is fed by water from some level of the main lake somewhat constantly. Depending on what this flow is and where the water is drawn from the main lake behind the dam, I suspect the heating factor is only one component to the water temp in the lagoon.
Yep. We’ll probably go the rental route if needed. Not swimming until the 5K on Sunday so will have time to check it out and make a call. Prefers to swim without a suit and at this point indicates that he will only wear one if required. Which is a real possibility with current temps right around the “required” temp. That may change after getting into the water on Friday or Saturday.
I think it all depends on where your swimmer is as far as the importance of the meet. It is likely to be optional, but everything I’m hearing/reading (mainly from tri sites) is there is an advantage to wetsuits performance wise (nothing to do with cold tolerance). Of course this depends on the swimmer’s experience, if any, swimming in a wetsuit and how they deal with it. Any chance they can practice in one before the meet?
SINKORSWIM – you seem to know the science behind this… any guess why the water temp yesterday in Castaic lagoon jumped 4 degrees (per USAS posting)? Air temps for the 24 hours prior didn’t get over 68, cloudy with light rain drizzle.
Just came here to ask exactly this.
Scrambling to figure out if my swimmer is going to need one, which he doesn’t currently own. Weather warming a bit heading toward race day(s), but before cooling off the last few days they had 5 days in the 90s there and water temp is still only 64 as of this morning.
Not to mention the requirements that the suits shall be a minimum of 3mm and maximum of 5mm thick and that “… the outer surface of the wetsuit shall not include outstanding shapes, such as ridges, fins, etc.” Not all manufacturers note the thickness of all their products, and all the suits look like Batman costumes… maybe with “ridges”.
And there’s no FINA approved list at this… Read more »
Barbotus – drop me a note – [email protected]
Forecast is for 80’s and sunny Fri of the race with peak between noon at 3. Good time move for no wetsuit, but could get a little toasty in a wetsuit with water temp just below the optional cutoff (68). Doubtful though, with air temps forecast the next week, that the water will warm that much.
Pressure will be on to wear a wetsuit in the optional range to be competitive. Not sure it is really optional if you want to compete.
Sat/Sun even warmer in forecast, but those events are early so still probably in the 60’s without the noon sun.
Ridiculous ?