2XU

V:2 Velocity Men's Wetsuit

Simply put, a triathlon is a race of derivatives. Your speed and output in one discipline directly spill over to the next. So, why would you want to exhaust yourself at the very start of the race? Lucky for you, 2XU created the V:2 Velocity Wetsuit to ensure that you conserve your energy while moving faster through the water.

The path to speed takes many forms, and the path to a faster wetsuit requires many engineering features. So, 2XU approached the V:2 with a four-part ideology -- body position, flexibility, hydrodynamics, and buoyancy. Coincidentally, much of 2XU's engineering towards body position also aids in buoyancy. And accordingly, the V:2 ensures an efficient body position through its velocity strakes and rollbar technologies. Basically, the velocity strakes are strategically placed and angled points of 5mm raised surface that run from the neck to the knee. These strakes perform many functions, but one of their more notable applications is improving posture in the water, or more precisely put, they efficiently channel water along the body in order to increase your stability and flow. This results in less sideways movement in choppy conditions, and also, it provides an enhanced lift to the body in glassy waters. The rollbars that run along the sides from the hip to the top of scapula operate with the same principle -- minimizing the shoulder and lats tendency to sink inwards during your stroke.

Surely, the aforementioned engineered system of position control sounds right on paper, but you're probably wondering what its real-world application is? Well, aside from its proprioceptive dynamics, it also brings us to our next subject, hydrodynamics. Basically, the V:2's goal is to make you faster in the water. And just as curvy, sleek shapes minimize your drag coefficient on land, the wetsuit's level of buoyancy is the minimizing variable in the water. The supporting science behind this claim is fairly elementary -- water is around 1000 times denser than air, and it produces a potential drag coefficient 10 times that of air, as well. So, minimizing your body's submergence is vital to optimizing hydrodynamics. Accordingly, the V:2 features a 5mm front flotation panel -- the maximum thickness allowed under IFR. This neoprene segment also has one of the highest available cell densities, 39 cell rubber, for a high level of buoyancy. In fact, this material has an industry-leading specific gravity of 0.13. This means that the cell density of the material is less than water, and so, when the material is submerged, the ratio of density between the neoprene and water is 0.13 -- or a specific gravity 0.13. For perspective, specific gravity reflects higher levels of buoyancy the further that it gets from 1.00, and most industry competition starts at levels around 0.17. And for a fun fact, the average human's specific gravity is around 0.974 -- we are, after all, mainly composed of water.

Additionally, the V:2 benefits from a Nano SCS coating that provides an added 4% of buoyancy over standard SCS, while lowering the suit's coefficient of kinetic friction to 0.026, compared to an untreated neoprene's coefficient of 4.0. Without entering into a physics lesson, the coefficient of kinetic friction is most simply described as the ratio of the force of friction between two bodies, and the force pressing them together. And in this case, the two bodies are your body and the water, and friction occurs concurrently with their motions. So, in the real-world, Nano SCS acts almost like an accelerant, as it reduces the friction between you and the water, ultimately requiring you to exert less force in order to gain more speed.

We've discerned how the V:2 design assists in conserving your energy by lowering your required output of force. But, the V:2 also has features that maximize the force that you apply. For example, 2XU equipped the forearms and lower legs with its propulsion panels. These sections of the suit provide the appendages with a drastically increased surface area. So, with the panels, more water is displaced during your catch and kick phase. Accordingly, your propulsion through the water is maximized with less required force. And for further efficiency, 2XU varied the propulsion panels' density from 1mm on the inner to 5mm on the outer portions.

To support the aforementioned movements, 2XU made the V:2 highly flexible. The Yamamoto 39 cell neoprene is not only buoyant, but it also features one of the most flexible rubber compositions on the market -- 540%, four-way stretch. Furthermore, like the propulsion panels, the entire V:2 suit has a varied density -- a vital component to articulation. Along these lines, the V:2 has a minimal, 1.5mm density on the underarm and lateral panels (Yamamoto 40), 2mm on the shoulders, and 3mm on the lower legs. You'll find that your efficiency will be further increased by the suit's directing of an effective body roll and flex throughout your swim.

2XU gave the suit its Titanium Alpha coat in order to promote an efficient blood flow in the lower limbs. It also has a floating back panel that's non-restrictive nature allows more air into the chest cavity. This concept is furthered by the suit's seamless floating zip panel.

The 2XU V:2 Velocity Wetsuit is available in the color Black and in six sizes from X-Small to XX-Large, with Small/tall, Small/medium, Medium/tall, Medium/solid, and Large/tall options also available.