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Has anyone here had any experience with renting a wetsuit? I'm looking at doing Memphis in May Oly tri which has a pretty good chance of being below the cutoff temp. As this is the only race where I'll need it (Alabama doesn't exactly have a lot of cool temp races), I'd prefer to rent rather than buy. Thanks!
Btchance, I've never rented a wetsuit, but here are a couple ideas (although I'm sure you've already thought of them). Can you call some local stores (LBS might know of people in town who do it) in Memphis and see if they rent wetsuits? In your local tri community, is there anyone who could loan you their wetsuit for the weekend. That happens here often. We post on our local tri club message board. Most triathletes are more than willing to loan a wetsuit and are a pretty generous bunch. We borrow stuff from each other all the time (bike cases, wetsuits, etc). :)
Have a great time at MIM. I've heard it's a ball!
I rented a wetsuit for a race last spring - a bike/tri shop in my area rents them for $35 for the weekend. However, for big NC races they are all reserved months in advance, so you have to be on the ball!
My main rec is, by all means practice in it first! I was able to pick mine up on a Friday afternoon before the race and take it to the pool. Because I was in a hurry I only did a couple of laps in it, which really wasn't enough (this was the first time I'd worn a wetsuit). Come race day, I struggled mightily on the swim, and part of it was being psyched out by the unfamiliar feeling of the wetsuit, especially the tightness around my neck.
If you can practice at the race venue or in another open water area, even better!
I did not bother spraying myself all over with Pam on race day - I find that really gross, plus how much of it really remains after swimming a mile or more? I did grease up my ankles with bodyglide, in hopes that it might help in ripping off the wetsuit - no idea if it had any effect.
Thanks for the info - I am planning on writing to the tri club group email, but since our club isn't very active, and our LBS aren't that tri oriented. I shall see, though.