Budget Swimrun Gear Setup

Welcome to another episode of Gear Talk with Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.

In this episode, we break down the different parts of the Swimrun kit with an emphasis on keeping it under a budget of $350 for those interested in getting into the sport of Swimrun but want to dip your toe in and not go full cannonball. We’ll talk more about that later in the show.

Gear Updates/First Impressions

Annie is still loving her Arc’teryx Norvan SL shoes. She’s now used them on a variety of endurance expeditions and they are holding up great! These are quickly becoming her favorite Swimrun shoe.

Brooke recently picked up an Ark Sports Women’s Ark KORP wetsuit. This was her first new suit in several years and said that running in the suit was totally amazing. Some water did get into the suit while swimming but she thinks that it could be a sizing issue. Overall, first impressions were mixed but optimistic.

Budget Swimrun Kit Roundtable

To frame this discussion, Chipper came up with a prompt and a goal that we used to come up with our recommendations. 

Prompt: You are new to Swimrun. You run on trails on the weekends, but other than shoes you don’t really have any of the gear. You’re doing a race in 6 months and don’t want to invest too much money. 

Goal: Create a budget-friendly Swimrun gear setup (not counting shoes, tether, nutrition, etc.) to get you started and stay under $350

With these cues in hand, we broke down the different elements of the Swimrun kit and talked about each gear category (goggles, pull buoy, etc.) and gave our thoughts on the best/cheapest gear to get you started. We also made recommendations on where you should splurge and where you can save some money. Most prices are approximate. Below is the breakdown of our choices:

Chipper: (Total $347)

• Goggles: Speedo Vanquisher ($20)
• Wetsuit: Blueseventy Alliance Swimrun Wetsuit ($240)
• Pull Buoy: Ark Sports Keel ($47)
• Undergarments: Under Armour sleeveless shirt ($20)
• Paddles: Strokemaker Paddles ($20)

Chris: (Total $267)

• Googles: whatever you already have. Don’t own goggles, I’m a fan of Aquasphere Kayenne ($28)
• Wetsuit: Orca Core ($169)
• Pull Buoy: Definitely spurge on this and get the Ark Sports Keel ($47)
• Socks: use what you have (something with synthetic fibers. Cotton is not your friend.
• Paddles: If you’re already training with paddles use those, if you’re not training with them, start with something manageable like the Speedo Power Paddle Plus ($20)

Annie: (Total: $198)

• Wetsuit: Zone 3 Womens Swimrun Versa, currently on sale for ($137.50)
• Goggles: Roka R1 goggles are a personal choice and fit issues vary between people, but your goggles definitely can’t suck. These are my favorite and it’s worth investing in a pair that works for you. ($33)
• Pullbuoy: Aquasphere Classic Pullbuoy bigger than all the rest! ($6) One hole, one bungee cord ($1.50)
• Undergarments: sports bra and sporty undies you already own, Versa wetsuit has 2 internal and 1 external pocket so no additional storage needed.

Brooke: (Total $219.39)

• Goggles - Zoggs Predator Next Gen ($16.99)
• Wetsuit - 2019 Orca Core ($169)
• Pull Buoy - Rise Pull Buoy x2 and glued together for Mundo vibes $5 ea. ($10) + bungee cord ($1.50)
• Undergarments  - use what you have, but here are my fav socks and options for nutrition storage for longer events
  • Socks: Seavenger Zephyr 3mm Neoprene Socks $16.95
  • Belts: FlipBelt Classic Running Belt ($28.95) or just stuff gels in your sports bra...we’ve all done it. Or go with the RJ Sport Race Number Belt $8.95 Amazon. Also, stores some gels and has places to hook paddles.
• Paddles - Synergy Swim Paddles $9.95

Overall Impressions

As you can tell, there are many ways to get race ready and that’s one of the cool things about Swimrun. There’s no right or wrong answer. Whatever works for you is the right answer. We recommend try before you buy whenever possible and reach out to other folks who might have gear that you can check out. (If you’re in the Bay Area, reach out to us and we can bring our gear to a swimrun practice for you to try out.)

If you are looking for more in-depth gear reviews be sure to check out other episodes of Gear Talk, Swimrun Undergarments, Swimrun Shoes, and various swimrun wetsuit reviews. We also have the beginner's swimrun gear guide called  Swimrun Gear Guide. 

That’s it for this week’s Gear Talk show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram and on Twitter. Email us at [email protected] with any feedback, suggestions, and/or meme ideas. Finally, you can also support us on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.