These unique Buoyancy Shorts were first developed by Zone3 back in 2007 and although recently copied by other brands are the original and have eight years of fantastic customer reviews behind them. They are designed to give an alternative to a pull buoy and give a more natural feeling of buoyancy. These triathlon shorts are made from top quality Smoothskin neoprene and are stitched and bonded just the same as a triathlon wetsuit. Designed using 3mm neoprene down the center and 5mm neoprene down the sides. The 3mm provides additional buoyancy whilst the 5mm side panels complement this by promoting hip rotation through each stroke.
The shorts serve three main purposes:
- For novice or intermediate level swimmers the major factor which prevents them from swimming faster is the lack of core stability and leg kick. Their arm strength and technique is good but because they are not horizontal on the top of the water they create a lot of drag and dead weight which makes it much harder to swim efficiently. With the buoyancy shorts the swimmer can get more used to swimming in the correct horizontal and streamlined position, so they start to build a neural pattern of how they should feel in the water. This also allows the swimmer to concentrate on making a more effective leg kick and better forward glide with each stroke without that sinking leg feeling. Results have shown that over time a swimmer’s body position, speed and endurance can be significantly increased by training with buoyancy shorts. The shorts are best to be used only during certain swim sets rather than the full session.
- For any level of triathlete who wants to train their open water swimming technique while in a pool. Swimming in a wetsuit during a triathlon is very different than swimming without a wetsuit during a swimming race. The majority of your power needs to derive from your upper body whereas your legs and core provide the essential control. These shorts help develop your open water swimming technique while in the pool, where wearing a full wetsuit would either be too hot or banned by the life-guards.
- For use in open-water training or races as an alternative to swimming in a full wetsuit (when the weather is warm enough!).
Sizes available are XS, S, M, L, XL and XXL. Each set of shorts has a drawstring so they can be tightened to any waist size but we would recommend the size XS for waist sizes 25″– 28″, S for 28″-31″, M for 31″–34″, L for 34″–37″, XL for 37″-40″, and XXL for 40″-43″. Please note- these are meant to fit SKIN TIGHT LIKE THEY HAVE BEEN PAINTED ON YOU- Just like a wetsuit should fit. They should not pull on easily. If they do, you will likely take on more water than is intended and they will not provide the benefits as they are intended for use.