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ZONE3 WETSUIT REVIEW BY GAVIN ROGERS, TRICENTRAL OWNER AND BTF LEVEL 3 COACH

Hi James,

Thought you might want a no holds barred review of the Zone3 Vanquish wetsuit so here goes:

Most wetsuits are tested and reviewed by elite swimmers who already have good body balance and positioning in the water and base their reviews on how it performs when they can swim well already.

I thought I would come in as the age grouper who swims 22+ minutes on average for 1500m and swims 55-60mins for Ironman swims.

As a Level 3 British Triathlon coach who coaches 20 athletes from beginner to elite Ironman athletes on a 1-1 basis I like to be able to recommend wetsuits for them.

The sizing chart for the suits is spot on. When I first put it on it went on so easily I thought it was too big, but once on seemed to fit perfectly.

I first tested it in the Endless Pool, which for me was a good way to test it to see if any water got in the sleeves or through the neck.

The Endless Pool throws a current at you and is like swimming upstream and would easily show up any inefficiency of water getting into the suit. Unlike some of the top end suits I have tried in the past there was no sign of any water entering the suit.

As I had not been swimming in a wetsuits for the past 6 months or so I was expecting the usual shoulder fatigue but in the Vanquish I found none and there was no restriction in arm movement either.

I also found that my heels were breaking the surface of the water consistently as with some suits they tend to be too buoyant up front and not enough in the legs, and as most age groupers hold themselves with their legs too low in the water and this is where they need more buoyancy. The Vanquish seemed well balanced throughout.

Next test was to get out the suit and with this I had no problems. It was not quite the 5.5 sec shown on the website but I thought 6.5 was not to bad and could improve on this with practise!

One thing I did notice was that every time you took the wetsuit of you could step out of it using your feet by standing on the wetsuit. Although you can do this with other wetsuits it is not guaranteed first time every time but with the Vanquish I can safely say it does this with ease.

Next test was in open water. I swam in Lanzarote on the Ironman course in the sea for 30 mins and everything was spot on - body position, flexibility, it was all there.

I had also forgot to put on Body Glide and found I had no rashes from the wetsuit and in salt water this is usually made worse.

At the price point of £325, which is much lower than the high end wetsuits available today, the Zone3 Vanquish will meet all the needs of a high end wetsuit at a fraction of the cost.

After a hugely successful 2009 which saw some of the best athletes in the world racing in Zone3, the 2010 range looks to be even more exciting! Zone3 aims to ensure that their products are quicker, more comfortable and more distinctive than any of the other brands.

Last season the range was sold out in just a couple of months, so get in quick before it’s too late!