1. Make sure your nails are cut and that you never allow your nails to touch the smoothskin neoprene.
2. When grabbing the smoothskin neoprene you want to make sure that only your fingers touch. Grab the smoothskin between your thumb and your fingers.
3. As shown above pull with your fingers still making sure never to allow your fingernails to touch the smoothskin.
1. Unpack your new Synergy Wetsuit and unzip the back.
2. Turn the top half of the suit over and put in one leg. Make sure to point your toes down. If you find that your foot is hard to get through, you can use socks or a plastic bag, which can make it easier.
3. Following the instructions from "First Things First" above, pull your foot through the leg.
4. Place the lower leg, so the leg hole sits just above the ankle with the two seams on each side running parallel to your leg.
5. Pull the suit up over your knee and smooth out any folds.
6. Put in your other leg and follow the same instructions as above.
7. Pull up the bottom half of the suit until it sits above your hips.
8. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Once your suit is pulled up over your hips, you need to pull the suit as high in to your crotch as you can, both in the front and in the back.
9. The most common mistake in wetsuit fitting is not pulling the suit high enough over the hips. It may feel a little uncomfortable now, but don't worry, it will quickly adjust itself and fall into place. If you do not pull it up high enough, though, the suit will not fit as it should on your shoulders.
10. Now its time to put in the arms and just like the legs, you need to carefully grab the neoprene and pull through your arms.
11. Make sure to gently pull on the suit and to be careful not to use your fingernails.
13. Place the lower arm panel just above the wrist an with the grip-panel squarely on the inside of your lower arm.
14. MOST IMPORTANT: Once both arms are in the suit, pull the suit from your lower chest to your upper chest as high as possible into the collar-bone/neck area. You want as much excess material bunching up.
15. Place your neck panel LOW on your neck by pulling it down below your vocal cords. Don't worry if the suit is bunching up on your upper chest/neck.
16. It's time to zip up: By holding the bottom of the zipper with one hand, grab the lanyard and gently pull the zip as straight up as you can. Please note that not everyone can do this due to different body shapes and most people will need assistance zipping the suit.
17. If you can zip the suit yourself, be very careful not to yank the zipper too hard.
18. Attach the end of the lanyard to the large velcro area and close the flap at a slight angle.
19. Make sure that the protective liner on the inside lays flat against your neck.
20. Stuff the lanyard gently inside the velcro flap to minimize drag.
All Done! If the suit hasn’t already settled on your body, it will within a few strokes in the water. If this is your first time, don’t fret.
After a few times, It will only take a few minutes and it becomes second nature for you to put on your suit.
1. A triathlon wetsuit is meant to fit snug.
2. A triathlon wetsuit will feel much less snug when wet and in the water, so you want it to be a little tight when your are dry and first putting it on.
3. If you are wet or sweaty, it is almost impossible to put on a wetsuit. Make sure you are dry and cool before putting on your suit!.
4. A triathlon wetsuit is not a dry suit, so water will come into the suit. This is good as long as your don’t have water slushing around in your suit. If that happens, your suit is too big and you will need a size exchange.
5. If you are swimming in your new suit and it it feels tight, try to open your neck a little and allow some water in.
6. A new suit becomes a little more flexible after a few swims, so always take some time to swim in your new suit to make sure it fits properly.
