1. Pay more and you’ll swim faster. Like most athletic equipment you get more benefits as you spend more. The top end suits are lighter, more flexible and have fancy stuff that repels water!

2. If you are new to wetsuit swimming then go for the low end models and pay the least possible. Spend your money on swimming lessons or a squad or just getting to the pool more often. The low end models are excellent and better than the top of the range models of only a handful of years ago.

3. Wait until your second wetsuit to decide to go up the wetsuit models. Then you can make a decision on your potential gains and value of the wetsuit.

4. We have seen/used/spoken to customers about 4 brands – so that is all we can comment on. Orca, Blue Seventy, Zoot and 2XU. They all have a good range from lower end to top of the range. No one should be disappointed if they were using any of these brands.

5. For the lower end we recommend the Orca S3 model. We think this is the best wetsuit for entry level swimmers and really like the Orca brand. They are made well and seem to have good features found on higher priced models. The flexibility is good and it doesn’t feel constraining around the neck and arms.

6. If you want to pay a little more and go up a model or two then we recommend the Orca Sonar, 2XU T0 or the Blue Seventy Synergie – they are all very nice wetsuits.