FIT FITSUIT

£299 Techy three-quarter length sleeve suit from new Brit brand

The first wetsuit from British multisport brand FIT (Frequency Intensity Time) emerged earlier this year after 11 prototypes and plenty of testing. You could be forgiven for thinking they’ve forgotten to finish the job, but the FIT Suit is intentionally three-quarter length in both the arms and legs, which makes it unique compared to the usual choice of full-length or sleeveless suits.

FIT claim this is advantageous because it “improves the feel as you catch the water in the pull through phase” and for faster transitions. Of the former, we couldn’t vouch for the suit being noticeably smoother to swim in than conventional suits at the same price. The lack of cuffs meant we actually felt the arm panels moving. If anything, this led to some unwanted restriction and it also caused some chafing under the arms. Elsewhere, the Yamamoto neoprene panels are 3mm in the legs and 1mm in the arms, and we felt the buoyancy level was pleasingly high compared to other mid-level wetsuits.

FIT claim their ‘Bioceramic’ layer inside the suit ‘reflects infrared’ to improve circulation and keep you warmer, but we didn’t find it was warmer than another suit during a chilly sea swim (if anything, the short arms and legs meant we felt the chill more). Removal is rapid with no cuffs to deal with, and we pulled it off in 5-7secs every time. To us, this is the primary advantage of the suit, as we aren’t convinced the design leads to a better swim stroke. 77 %

VERDICT SHORT SLEEVES MAKES FOR RAPID TRANSITIONS, BUT LITTLE ELSE TO SET IT APART