Swimming in a lake or the sea can be cold. The solutions were: just be brave and grow some balls OR get a wetsuit. We got a wetsuit.
Researching thoroughly (a few minutes googling in the car in front of the wetsuit shop) taught me a few things. They come in different sizes and it is different for everybody. Great. Most important, the thing has to fit perfectly, don’t buy it if it doesn’t. Last piece of information, the more expensive the better. What else is new, right?
So we went in and got some great help from the staff of the shop, Torpedo7 in Taupo. First she directed me away from the surfing wetsuit and to the swimming wetsuits. They are different. Second she asked me why I needed it and what my sizes where and I explained.
She went away and came back with 2 wetsuits, without further ado. Try them, and see if they fit. So I tried. Getting them on was quite an adventure, you need plastic bags for socks, and gloves to not tear them up in the shop already, the things are very sensitive. The fitting room came with instructions.
The wetsuit how-to in only 30 simple steps
The first suit did not fit well. To begin with, the zipper was on the front, not the back like it should. Oh wait… Yes, I was wearing it back to front! Hilarious, after an epic case of the giggles, I had to do it all over again.
Long story short, the first, cheaper one, fit like a glove and off we went to the lake.
“Please don’t rip on the first swim…”
It was magnificent! The water did not feel cold at all and the thing makes you float especially in the leg area! I swam and my first wetsuit training and my first swim in a natural lake was an absolute success!
“That is some mighty cold lake”
In all honesty, Holly did the whole swim training without a wetsuit so she is either a all time hero or the water wasn’t that cold, but it definitely made the process of getting in to the water a whole lot faster!
A proud new wetsuit owner!
My wetsuit is a Blueseventy Fusion Men’s.
