Freediving Wetsuits

Freediving Wetsuits

Freediving Wetsuits are crucial in your apnea pursuits and you don't need us to tell you that.  Freediving is a diverse sport and you can be forgiven for thinking it's only in the ocean, but in fact, world-wide more freedivers swim in pools than they do the ocean.  It's with this in mind that we have tailored our range to offer not just the world's best freediving wetsuits but also the best swimming suits on offer. Swim and Freedive wetsuits are similar in that they are designed to reduce drag created by the wetsuit and to keep you in a good swim-profile due to buoyancy regulating, variable-thickness panels.  Open-water freediving suits tend to come with a hood for thermal retention.

Freediving (or Apnea diving) is taking the world by storm in recent years due to it's ease of accessibility, low entry cost and unrivalled capacity to feel like one with the ocean and it's inhabitants. But it's not just about insane human feats such as someone, with one breath of air, descending to 129m below the surface. Most apnea divers today are diving with the first 10 meters of water and enjoying the splendour that comes with being under water with the added bonus of silence, something unavoidable with a scuba apparatus.

For most of us, freediving or Apnea Diving is more closely aligned to what we love to call Extreme Snorkelling, that is to say we're pushing snorkelling to it's limits, as a snorkeler your invested in experience the world around you, as a series apnea diver you're experiencing the world within you. Sure, the test of attrition that is free-diving tickles many an athletes fancy but in just one month of casual swimming you will be able to comfortable spend a 30 seconds underwater and I can guarantee you that is all it takes to get hooked on freediving.

With the variety of applications for breathe holding is immense! Be it for Surfing bigger waves, Photography, Fitness, Survey, aqua sports like Underwater Rugby and Hockey, becoming a mermaid, Spearfishing, Synchronised Swimming and all disciplines of competitive free-diving.

Are swimming wetsuits good for Freediving?

Short answer: yes.  Long answer: the world of swimming is immense, compared with freediving it's like David and Goliath. We've made the choice to include swimming wetsuits (more often than not these are marketed in our Freediving range because they're some of the most advanced wetsuits in the market and are designed to promote streamline, something that both swimmers and freediveers rely on.  

What's that on the chest of my Apnea Wetsuit?

You may note that some of these wetsuits have a foam pad around the solar plexus/sternum.  This is a component designed to allow more comfortable loading of a speargun (and to avoid tears) and we have included them in our freediving range because a) they're built for Apnea (Breathhold) diving and are often built to a far better standard than traditional freediving wetsuits and b) allow you to buy one wetsuit for both freediving down a rope and catching your dinner. Apnea suits with a loading pad are subject to conditions that destroy wetsuits: like lying on sharp undersea boulders, or trying to squeeze into a crevice, in search of an elusive cray.  On the other hand, apnea specific suits are designed for the pool, or for the open ocean where there are no sharp or hard things to run into.

Freediving Wetsuit Features 

• One or Two Piece: This is more an issue of personal preference, however, a two piece suit allows you to adjust the vertical 'fit' of the suit, so if your height is outside of the norm, we strongly recommend a two piece.
• High Stretch: Decent stretch is important in any wetsuit however in the freediving world it's important to have minimal restriction around your torso because it will directly inhibit your ability to breathe-up.
• Ease of Streamline: As most free-divers aim to maintain streamline it's important that a suit has decent flexibility under the arms.  Some suits are cut in a way that makes the arms protrude upwards, instead of downwards, this makes it easier to get into streamline.
• Sealed Seam: A sealed seam creates a barrier against cold water entering through the stitch and seam and is one of the main contributing factors to warmth. Our vlog covers the ins and outs of seams.
• Smooth Skin: Smoothskin coated wetsuits are said to create less drag than the elastane lining found on most wetsuits.