Welcome to Gear Talk with our friends Annie and Brooke from Swimrun Labs.

In this episode, we break down the new Synergy Swimrun Wetsuit. At $200 this suit is an intriguing entry-level suit that looks and, more importantly, performs great. We would like to thank Synergy for sending us four of their new suits for us to test out.

Our complete review is coming later in the show.

Gear Updates

Annie swam in the Ark Sports KORP Wetsuit for the first time and only had good things to say about the suit. She tested it in pretty chilly water and didn’t experience any water pooling in the suit that others have experienced.

Brooke tried to go full commando under her wetsuit for the first time...and she wasn’t a fan.

Chris and Chipper got to try out the new Summer Smoc from Smoc Smoc. These bamboo fiber smocs are great for the summer months and make it really easy to change into and out of your Swimrun gear. 

Untethered Thoughts

This week’s untethered thought comes courtesy of Amy Bush. She asked us why our Gear Talk show isn’t called the “Löw Tide Töyz” show. We discussed this at length and will consider the suggestion and try to incorporate “labs” in there somewhere.

Synergy Swimrun Wetsuit Review

We all got to use the suits and have some well-formed opinions about the Synergy Swimrun Wetsuit. You can watch our first impressions video here to get a general overview of the suit.

The suit costs $200. It comes with three pockets (two internal pockets in the front and one large zippered pocket in the back), a whistle on the zipper, and male and female-specific sizing. The Synergy website describes the suit as follows: The Synergy Swimrun is a high-quality suit with the essential features; long front zip, total of 3 accessible pockets, and graded/variable neoprene thickness to allow best flexibility while retaining buoyancy for swimming and enough insulation to keep you warm.

Given that this is an entry-level suit, we thought that it would be important to calibrate our review with other similar entry-level suits with a similar price point such as  the ORCA Core and the BlueSeventy Alliance Swimrun Wetsuit. It’s worth noting that this suit does not come with arm sleeves.

Swimming Impressions

Chipper was worried about chafing with the collar of this suit but those concerns didn’t come to pass. The suit fit great and he thought that it kept water out well and kept him warm. He did feel that the velcro portion to secure the collar was a bit small and would have liked it to be a bit larger since it came undone during a swim and he had to adjust it.

Brooke was also worried about the suit collar. She tried the suit on when it arrived and thought that the neckline felt a little “chokey” because it came up pretty high. She didn’t experience any chafing. She did experience some water entering the suit from the arms and flushing through the suit. (We all think that this was a fit issue.)

Annie did not have any water entering into the suit and thought that the fit was spot on. She did experience some chafing. There is a seam on the collar that had some extra reinforcement but it did lead to some chafing. 

Chris’s expectations for the suit were low when he took it out of the box because at first glance it appeared that it was using a Gen 1-style design with thick neoprene on the legs instead of a more Gen 2 approach that is more run-forward. The suit definitely exceeded his expectations. The suit was great in the water and easy to swim in with good seals to keep water out and shoulder mobility wasn’t a problem. 

Transition Impressions

Chipper and Chris didn’t have any issues with transitions. The zipper was good for cabbing down and zipped smoothly.

Brooke and Annie thought that transitions went fine. Annie was able to cab down no problem in the suit. Brooke felt like she was carrying some water with her but that could be because of the sizing issues that she was having.

Running Impressions

Annie and Chris were pleasantly surprised with the run performance. Out of the box the suit felt stiff and had neoprene running down the entire front. They didn’t feel restricted at all during the run.

Brooke felt very comfortable on the run and didn’t feel like she would overheat in the suit. Sizing down may have resolved some of the bunching issues that she was having.

Chipper was very worried that he was going to cook in the suit because it seemed pretty thick. Just like everyone else, he was pleasantly surprised with how the suit performed on the run. He felt that the legs did ride up a bit but it wasn’t a deal-breaker. He did have some concerns about the front pockets not being super useful when cabbed down.

Pull Buoy Rankings Rankings

Chipper 4.5 Pull Buoys

Chipper thought that for the price point, this suit was good enough for him to race in the suit. He said that he would be fine racing in the suit. This was the top of the heap in terms of entry-level wetsuits and it was a great suit for most Swimrun conditions.

Chris 4 Pull Buoys

Chris thought that for an entry-level suit, the Synergy is great! A lot of thought and intention went into making this suit and for $200, this suit definitely delivers. He would use this suit over any other entry-level suit that he has tried.

Brooke 3.5 Pull Buoys

Brooke doesn’t think that anyone should listen to her review. She thinks that she had the wrong size and didn’t enjoy it as much as she wanted to. She would maybe give it a higher score if she had the right size. She did think that this is a great suit for folks starting out and/or for training.

Annie 4.5 Pull Buoys

Annie gave it a high score for the value that it presents for $200. It totally delivered and exceeded her expectations for the price point. It has a great balance of swim buoyancy and run mobility. She would feel totally fine racing in this suit.

Overall Impressions

We were all pleasantly surprised with how the new Synergy suit performed and we would all recommend this suit to both beginners in the sport and more experienced athletes looking for a durable suit to train or race in.

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. 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.