Drag Suits: When You Should and Shouldn’t Wear One

One of the simplest ways to make things a little harder on yourself in training is to throw on a drag suit. Here is what you need to know about whether or not it is actually effective in helping you swim faster.

Drag suits have been on pool decks in one form or another basically since day one.

Here is what I mean:

As a teenager during the 1990s my teammates and I all seemed to have a running battle for who rocked out the draggiest of the drag suits—it wouldn’t be uncommon for boys on the team with size 28 waists buying size 40 training suits from the local swim shop.

The effect was rather ridiculous—we looked like we were all wearing diapers.

The things we do for the sport we love, hey?

Since then the practice suit has gone the other way, with equally good reasons—by wearing low resistance suits in practice you better acclimatize yourself to the water, swim at speed, and as a result aren’t surprised and know what to expect when you step up on the blocks.

Why Swimmers Wear Drag Suits

Although the trend has veered away from having a parachute of a swim suit, there are reasons to rock out the drag suit at practice:

Added resistance and drag.

Training with added resistance is harder, simple as that. The added difficulty will make us stronger, and therefore, faster.

Your drag suit is another form of added resistance–similar to DragSox, or stretch cords, or swimming with a band around your ankles. It’s sport-specific resistance training.

The mental aspect of it.

Using and removing a drag suit can provide a psychological benefit.

For instance, during practice you could do the first round of a high intensity set wearing it, and then drop it for the final round, giving you that little boost or extra sense of speed. Unshackled of the pounds of resistance you are free to fly across the surface of the pool.

This is why you’ll see swimmers at shave-and-swim taper meets wearing their drag suits during their meet warm-up–they want to get a double dose of sleekness when they dive in at race time thanks to the tech suit and the shave down.

The Research on How Drag Suits Affect Swim Performance

In a study done with a group of 18 competitive swimmers the athletes were split into two groups over the course of a 5-week period. Everyone performed the same weekly practices that featured 3 sprint sets. One group wore a drag suit, the other went au naturel (well, not quite–they just used regular swimwear).

The sets were short, sweet, and to the point (the drag suit was not worn during the recovery swimming, just the all-out efforts):

One significant effect of the drag suit was that stroke distance decreased during use. Checks out–drag suits make it “harder” to swim.

After the five weeks were up, however, swimmers who trained with drag suits were better able to maintain their stroke length and stroke rate in a 50m time trial, while the control group (who trained without drag suits) saw a drop in stroke length.

The big hoped-for effect–faster sprinting times–didn’t arise as a result of training with the drag suit, with both the control and intervention groups showing no significant changes in final times (bummer).

(Other studies with different resistance tools, from power towers to drag chutes, have seen significant boosts in swim velocity with organized resisted swim training.)

Most swim coaches, and the researchers in this study, recommend using drag suits for shorter, high intensity efforts with enough rest where swimmers can keep their technique on point.

Which makes sense—wearing a heavy-duty drag suit for a 3,000m for time might seem like a great way to punish yourself into better condition, but if the suit’s resistance wrecks technique, forcing you to compensate with increased hip roll, longer glide, or less time spent in propulsive phases, the potential benefits get lost.

How to Use Drag Suits Properly

Think of your drag suit as one of the tools in your training arsenal. Something that you can add in and out of your workouts as needed.

In the same way you wouldn’t swim with a t-shirt on for the whole practice (the original drag suit), or with DragSox, or with weights around your wrists and ankles (seriously, people do this), use it selectively in scenarios where you can maintain awesome form and technique.

If it affects body position and limits your stroke tempo or causes your stroke to change than it’s usefulness has been lost. Use it in short spurts when you want to add a little bit of resistance to your high-intensity work and as a way to create a contrast in your swimming speed that increases feel for the water.

What drag suit is best for swimmers?

Choosing the best drag suit for your swimming comes down to a few different things, including how much resistance you want to generate, durability, and comfort.

A good drag suit should fit snugly and securely for those aggressive push-offs and add enough resistance to challenge you without cratering your technique mid-length.

The most “draggy” drag suit on the market is the FINIS Ultimate Drag Suit. It has four large mesh pockets that catch tons of water for lots of resistance. The Speedo Poly Mesh Drag Suit is a square-shaped polyester drag suit purposely made baggy for increased resistance that is a great daily driver.

The Bottom Line

Ultimately, drag suits are just another of the long line of swimming tools and equipment that we have at our disposal for improvement in the water. Choose the one that matches your goals, use it wisely, and punch your ticket to faster times in the pool.

Happy swimming!