Orca Vitalis Hi-Vis Men's Open Water Wetsuit

The Vitalis Hi-Vis is Orca's men's open water wetsuit in high-visibility colours, built so that boat traffic and your own support crew can pick you out of chop and glare. Everything else is a proper training suit.

Who it's for

Open water, where the thing most likely to hurt you is something you never see coming. The Vitalis Hi-Vis is built around being visible: bright orange panels that stand out hard against grey-green water, so boats, skis and surfers pick you up early.

If you swim outside a patrolled course - a bay, an estuary, a squad session off the beach - this is the suit to own. It costs nothing extra to be seen.

Buoyancy and flexibility

Highly elastic panels through the body and shoulders keep your stroke free over distance, and the suit holds body temperature without stiffening up the way thicker open-water suits can.

Getting the size right

This is the decision that makes or breaks a wetsuit, so take your time over it.

Size on body weight: 6 is 67-74 kg, 7 is 75-82 kg, 8 is 82-89 kg and 9 is 89-97 kg.

Snug everywhere is the target, with no slack pockets at the lower back or behind the knees. Getting into it on dry land should be a wrestle - that is what correct feels like, and it lets go the moment you start swimming. Between two sizes, take the smaller one: neoprene gives with wear, and a suit that starts loose flushes water through, which is what makes you cold rather than the water itself.

Looking after neoprene

Rinse it in fresh water after every swim - salt and chlorine both attack neoprene, and neither forgives being left on. Dry it in the shade or somewhere airy inside. Never in the sun: UV is what turns good neoprene hard and brittle, and one Australian summer on a fence will do it.

Hang it over something wide or fold it loosely, and never wring it out.

Water temperature range

As a guide, 2.5 mm Yamamoto 38 through the torso and legs is comfortable from about 16°C upwards - which covers most Australian open-water racing and squad swimming from spring through autumn.

Below that you can still swim in it; you will just want a neoprene cap, which is the cheapest way to add an hour to a cold session.