Downstream

you can swim in comfort, and
you’re quicker and more
buoyant.’ If entrants wear
wetsuits then fewer safety
canoes are needed, and even
insurance is cheaper.
‘When it dawns on the
masses how good wetsuits are
people will want to do it, it’s
a lovely bit of kit,’ says Tom,
who believes the resurgence
in open-water swimming is
thanks to wetsuits: ‘if you
wear one then if you get into