TSP21: My First Wetsuit. My Favourite Wetsuit. One I’d Like To Get Hold Of. And Some History.

·31 min·2 clips

Dave Scott says he wants people to worry about him, not see his expression while he is hurting.

The episode opens off Nice, with the water around 65 degrees and an old broadcast rolling in behind it. The start is crowded, with John Naber describing the opening swim, the danger of the middle of the pack, the possibility of drafting, and the frogmen standing by for rescue. Seven hundred athletes line up on the beach, and the sight of them spreading out toward the sea becomes one of the episode's central scenes. From there, the hosts widen the story into the changing rules around triathlon wetsuits. They trace the 1987 ETU decision that allowed full wetsuits with a maximum thickness of 3mm, and they connect that to the broader move toward sleeved suits, which the episode treats as likely but not absolutely certain in the historical record. The episode stays careful with the detail, because some of the history is being pieced together from old magazines, ads, and race photos. That uncertainty gives the story its tone. Show notes point listeners toward a photo from the 1987 European Short Course Championship, where a few sleeved suits can be seen alongside plenty of Aquaman kit, colourful suits, and Robin Brew in a speedo at the front. The story then shifts to the UK magazine world of 1988. An article titled "Naughty Boys" raises the worry that some athletes may have been wearing suits thicker than the rules allowed, whether by design or mistake. The episode lingers on the slightly comic image of race organisers bringing out callipers to check suspicious suits. It also follows the advertising trail. Terrapin's ads claim compliance with the evolving rules, while the magazine record suggests that sleeved suits were still not especially common in the UK. In 1990, the rulebook changes again, with the ETU, BTA, and ITU all allowing 5mm. The hosts note a remembered detail about 5mm bodies and 3mm arms and legs, but they are honest that they do not have hard evidence for that recollection. France gets its own separate treatment because, on this telling, French triathlon never seemed to have the same wetsuit taboos. The episode points to Triathlete France images from 1985 and 1986, where wetsuits of many styles appear without much fuss. It also returns to the Nice race coverage, described as the first time that event was shown with visible wetsuits. That makes the visual shift feel concrete rather than abstract. The final stretch broadens out into the temperature argument. Wetsuits are discussed as disallowed once the water gets above 72 degrees and as necessary once it drops toward 55. The logic is practical. Wetsuits help less technically strong swimmers stay closer to the pack, but in cold water they can be the difference between a race and a hazard. The episode closes by pointing to St. Croix, where the water supposedly never falls below 72 degrees, so wetsuits would not come into play at all. It is a very specific history lesson, but the larger point stays clear: a small piece of rubber changed triathlon's look, its safety, and its arguments.

As heard by us

A wetsuit history piece that makes triathlon rules and archive material feel immediate.

This episode turns a wetsuit into a lens on triathlon's early rules, cold water pragmatism, and the sport's visual record. It has a clear archival streak without feeling stiff.

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Why you'd press play

You want the backstory on triathlon wetsuits, from changing rules to cold-water common sense.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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