HUUB VARMAN

£399.99 Will the latest Huub dominate the mid-range market?

The Varman is a collaboration between Huub and superstar tri swimmers, Richard Varga and Henri Schoeman (Schrga didn’t have quite the same ring as Varman). And we haven’t enjoyed a Huub wetsuit as much as this for a long time, feeling more flexible in the upper body than the Aegis II and III, and entry-level Axiom and Alphas we’ve swum in most recently.

The amount of tech is too exhaustive to list here, but the headliner is Huub’s new +43 buoyancy foam (also seen on the top-end Agilis and Archimedes 3), which is said to be 43% more buoyant than standard neoprene. This includes rigid panels on the thighs, which aren’t the easiest to pull on, but once horizontal in the water there’s a noticeable – yet not excessive – lower-body lift.

Our key test came at the (brilliant) Croyde Ocean Tri and we felt serene

in the Atlantic waters, with Huub’s ‘Arms Neutral’ tech aiding arm extension and rotation. And it’s here where we think the Varman’s real quality emerges over the hyped hip/ lower-body buoyancy, giving a natural swimming experience that’ll appeal to stronger swimmers.

We’re still not convinced of breakaway zippers for the majority of athletes (we could just about do it up ourselves) and we’d prefer the neckline to be a centimetre or two lower, even if water ingress at the here is non-existent. But, these quibbles aside, this feels like a suit that finds the balance between pioneering and performance, and we’d like to see where Huub take this tech next. MB huubdesign.com