The Orca open water gear
Orca has a range of products that are great for open water swimming and training, and here we take a closer look at a few of those items including the Openwater wetsuit and dry bag.
During a race or pre-race swim you are typically surrounded by other athletes and support boats, and the area is usually closed off to boaters and well marked. But when training in the open water at other times, it is more hazardous especially since most suits are predominately black. The Orca Openwater wetsuit on the other hand has bright orange arms to make the swimmer more visible. The $170 price tag is affordable, and that means you can save your expensive wetsuit for racing and select training swims. Clearly you still have to pay attention to your surroundings, but this suit should allow you to explore and swim in new surroundings with confidence.
For a beginner this is a great option as an everyday suit, and it should give them confidence that they will not go unnoticed when in a sea of flailing arms.
The Openwater safety buoy is another high visibility swim aid that you can drag behind you, and it can also be used to store gear that you don't want to leave at the water's edge. At $45 it is a small investment and a valuable asset. Where do you store your gear or car keys when you swim in a lake or river?
Here Åsa Lundström is resting on the safety buoy before getting started with the next swim session.
This bright, long sleeve Rashguard shirt is great before and after a swim to keep the sun at bay with its UPF50+ Cl-Pro Flex fabric, but obviously also useful as a rash guard. Some folks are likely to wear it publicly on social occasions, and it should go well with that Ironman visor.
Orca also offers swim socks, hydro booties, a neoprene skull cap, a wetsuit base layer, and this Heatseeker undershirt for those really cold water temps.
Orca also has started a campaign called Best Places To Swim as a resource for folks to share and find great places to swim around the world. It is fairly new and thus not yet very populated, but you can make it so. Share your favorite swim route there.
Images 1 and 3 are © Ginés Díaz of ginesdiaz.com
