Core temperature while swimming in warm water wearing a triathlon wetsuit

Introduction. - The purpose was to determine if core temperature was influenced by wearing a triathlon wetsuit while swimming in warm water (25.5 C-degrees). Summary of facts and results. - Participants (n = 5) completed two 1000 m swim conditions: wearing a full sleeve wetsuit (WFull) and no wetsuit (NWS) at a self-selected pace. Condition order was randomized. Core temperature was measured using an ingestible telemetry core temperature pill. Initial temperature (Ti), final temperature (Tf), average temperature (TAVG) and rate of change of temperature (AT/At) were recorded for analysis. Core temperature was analyzed using a 2 (condition: WFull, NWS) x 2 (time: Ti, Tf) repeated measures analysis of variance. Stroke rate, performance time, TAVG, and AT/At were compared between conditions using paired t-tests. Core temperature was not influenced by the interaction of condition and time (P = 0.118) nor by condition (P = 0.695) but was influenced by time (P = 0.012). TAVG, AT/At, and stroke rate were not different between conditions (P > 0.05). Swim performance was faster for the WFull (861.9 +/- 109.0 s) vs. NWS condition (912.1 +/- 114.7 s; P < 0.05). Conclusion. - Core temperature during swimming in warm water (25.5 C-degrees) at self-selected pace was not influenced by wearing a wetsuit. (c) 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.