swimrun wetsuits

Welcome to episode fifty-three of the Low Tide Boyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

This is officially year two of the show and we have something really special this week. So special in fact that we’re afraid that we may have set the bar too high for ourselves with this one. 

On this show we have Co-founder and chief designer of Ark Sports, Daniel Sand. This is the guy that literally came up with the concept of a Swimrun wetsuit and revolutionized the sport when he was with Head Sports and then took it to the next level when he started Ark Sports and revolutionized the sport again with the introduction of the next generation of Swimrun suits.

More on this cool conversation later in the show.

Shoutouts

This week we are shouting out our wives, Kristen and Susan, for their seemingly limitless (although there is a limit) support of us and our labor of love for the sport of Swimrun. As we embark on the second year of the show, there is literally no way that this show would be possible without them.

Adventure Time/Training Updates

With the holidays past us, we are ready to buckle down and start making some progress on our plans for charting a cool Swimrun course at Lake Sonoma. We have maps, gels, hall passes, and other stuff lined up to make this happen. 

We’re also starting to plan a road trip to San Diego in March to spend a weekend training with SoCal crew of Andy, Mel, Kelsie, Sean, Phillip, and the rest. We hope that this will be first of many road trips taking the show (and the training) on the road.

In other news, Chris joined Tower26 and is committed to making more gains in the pool to be able to keep up with Chipper. If you want to know why, check out Episode 32 with Tower26 Founder, Gerry Rodrigues and Episode 42 with Tower26 coaches Megan Melgaard and Jim Lubinsky.

This Week in Swimrun (Powered by Raceid.com)

We’ve got some Swimrun-related news to share this week.

Ödyssey Swimrun has opened registration for Orcas Island, Casco Bay, and Austin. Register by January 14 to sign up at the lowest prices of the year. They also have a new race on the calendar for 2021: Swimrun Ludington in Michigan. Registration hasn’t opened for that event yet but we have two words that should inspire you to register when it does...SAND DUNES!

For those of you looking for a truly epic event to race, Rockman Swimrun registration is open on Raceid.com. The race is on August 14th. If you haven’t seen the Youtube videos of this race, make sure that you are sitting down when you do. Check out Episode 26 with Rockman Race Director Thor Hesselberg to get even more stoked to take a trip to Norway in August.

The registration window for the ÖTILLÖ World Championship is open. Go to their press release to get all the details on how to enter. Registration is open until January 20th so make sure that your race results are up to date and best of luck getting a spot on the starting line.

Finally, we wanted to let everyone know that Swimrun NC had to move the date of their 2021 event from October 24th to November 7th due to park permit issues.

That’s it for this week. Feel free to email us to tip us off to any events or Swimrun news that you’d like for us to share on the show.

Updates

We’ve got some fun things in the works for 2021 including focusing on Swimrun teams in February, helping to promote the “All The Way: The Making of Swimrun Champions” movie in March, and hosting some  live podcasting while on the road at events (COVID permitting.)  

We’ve added some new content to our website that folks should check out. Under our resources tab, you can now find a 2021 US Swimrun Race Calendar for all the races that we could find. (If we’re missing one, please let us know!)

This Week’s Interview

As we mentioned at the start of the show, this week’s interview is so good! Daniel Sand is a Co-Founder and Chief Designer at Ark Sports and is singularly responsible for the Swimrun wetsuit that we all take for granted. 

Daniel’s journey to revolutionize Swimrun started in 2014 when he started to design the first Swimrun-specific wetsuit for HEAD. In 2017, he revolutionized the Swimrun wetsuit again when he co-founded Ark Sports and created the Swimrun wetsuit design that is commonplace today.

In this interview, we cover the history of the Swimrun-specific wetsuit, its innovation over the years, and Daniel’s role at the center of that. We talked about his rationale for leaving HEAD to start Ark Sports. We also broke down the design process behind some of the key Ark Sports wetsuits like the VIGG, ORNÖ, and UTÖ and, of course, the Keel pull buoy. We asked the tough questions about product durability and learned how Ark Sports is working on that. Finally, we talked about what the future holds for Swimrun equipment and Ark Sports.

If we sound like Ark Sports fanboys during this interview it’s because we are. It's hard not to root for them. You can learn more about Ark Sports here.

That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

Orca Swimrun Wetsuits Review

Welcome to the fifth Löw Tide Böyz swimrun gear review show! This review is once again co-hosted by our friends Annie and Brooke from the Swimrun Labs.

This episode is all about Orca Swimrun Wetsuits and Accessories. Brooke and Chris have used several Orca suits so they review while Chipper and Annie ask the questions. It’s good stuff so let’s get right to it.

Orca has been around for a long time with triathlon, open water, free diving and kids gear. Relevant for this show is their evolving line of Swimrun-specific wetsuits. Their first iteration of suits, The Core and RS1 suits, were basically triathlon suits where they cut the legs and sleeves off and put the zipper in the front. We’ve seen an “evolution of industry-standard” with their second iteration of suits that we’ll talk about later in the show.

The Swimrun Core Wetsuit (First Iteration)

Both Brooke and Chris have used the Swimrun Core. It’s Orca’s entry-level wetsuit that runs under $200. (You can read Swimrun Labs super in-depth review of the Core here.) It has the standard zipper in the front and it’s definitely a swimrun wetsuit with thick-ish neoprene on the chest and thigh region with thinner shoulder and back neoprene. It comes with removable neoprene sleeves for colder conditions, a small hip pocket that can hold one or two gels or the team bandage, a whistle and a medium size zippered pocket in the lower back. It’s a versatile suit that works well in various water temperatures and was overall pretty good in the water. While running, the thick thigh neoprene didn’t feel super inhibiting but hip flexion might be an issue for a really long event. Brooke has issues cabbing down in the suit but it wasn’t a deal breaker. 

PRO-TIP: you don’t need a lot of hip buoyancy in the suit if you’re using a large pull buoy like the Ark Sports Keel. (You can listen to our in-depth review of the Keel here.)

LTBz Pull Buoy Ranking

Brooke: 3.5 PULL BUOYS

It’s not a fancy suit but it gets the job done. It’s held up for 3 years with a lot of use and wear and tear. It you’re looking for something fancy, then there are plenty of options but it you want something that won’t break the bank and will perform well in a lot of conditions, then you can’t go wrong with the Core. 

Chris: 3 PULL BUOYS

The price point was great. Other than the mobility issues that Chris had in the shoulders (which might totally be his own issues) the Core is a great training suit and pretty versatile so it’s great for beginners or folks using a separate training suit than their racing suit. That being said, there are newer suits that have better/newer technology.

The Swimrun RS1 Wetsuit (First Iteration)

The RS1 is the mid-range/top of the line suit that Orca offers. The material is very similar to the Core except that the shoulder material is a little thinner. The suit comes with removable sleeves, a two-way zipper in the front, a small pocket in the upper chest that stores a whistle and has a very large pocket in the back for almost too much storage. Unlike the Core there isn’t an external pocket in the hip. The neoprene material in the hips is still very thick neoprene but there is a small thinner panel in the hip flexor region. The suit goes for $399. 

LTBz Pull Buoy Ranking

Chris: 3.5 Pull Buoys

It’s a great suit. For the price point, you’re not getting so much more for the money. It performed well in the water and on land and is pretty durable. If you’re an Orca fan, skip the Core and get the RS1.

Second Iteration/Generation Orca Swimrun Wetsuits

Since we’re on the topic of Orca wetsuits, we thought it would be instructive to discuss the new suits that Orca has released since Chris and Brooke got their suits. Orca’s new offerings are the ORCA Perform and new RS1. As expected, the new suits follow the newer style of swimrun suits that other brands are making where the entire lower half of the suit (from the lower waist down) is a thinner material designed for ease of running and the upper part of the suit is where the traditional neoprene is placed for warmth and buoyancy. The new RS1 has what looks like a new style of zipper. We couldn’t totally figure out how it worked so we can’t tell if it was a positive or negative. (If anyone listening has used it, let us know what you think!)

Orca also makes a separates suit where tops and bottoms are sold separately. We didn’t know what to think about this, but it seems like a good idea to get a good fit if you have an odd body type.

Other Orca Swimrun Products

Orca offers a bunch of accessories for swimrun including calf guards, a pull buoy with Velcro straps, a neoprene undershirt with storage, belts and a tether.

Overall Impressions

If we’re talking about affordability, you really can’t go wrong with either the Orca Core Wetsuit or the blueseventy Alliance Swimrun Wetsuit (you can listen to our review of that suit here) for the price point. We think that the decision should be based on where the swimrun wetsuit will be used. If you’re in a cold climate, then go with the Alliance. The Core is a more versatile suit for warmer conditions. 

Overall, Orca is doing some cool stuff in the swimrun space and they are definitely trying to innovate that we totally appreciate. 

That’s it for this week’s special edition show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram and on Twitter. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback, suggestions and/or meme suggestions. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.