Zone3 Vanquish Våddragt - Dame

The Vanquish is Zone3's top-end suit but is comparable price wise to most other companies' mid-level wetsuits. That's where the comparisons end however as this is a stonkingly good wetsuit regardless of price. The neoprene feels exceptionally supple making it astoundingly comfy while the one-piece shoulder construction means you'd be hard pressed to find a more flexible suit in the shoulders. The grooved chest – designed to prop up the legs by directing water below them – is, like the thighs, also made from aerodome neoprene constructed with air bubbles, which provided fantastic buoyancy while the reverse zip makes getting out of this suit even easier than the Aspire. The suit will no doubt be doing battle with HUUB's Aerious, but the Vanquish has the edge in terms of buoyancy for less-natural swimmers while maintaining excellent flexibility. The only thing stopping this from reaching a perfect score is that it's a hard sell considering just how amazing the Aspire is.

Verdict Not just and incredible suit for the money, but one of the best we've ever tested!

Performance 5/5
Value 5/5
Overall 4/5

The Vanquish is in the test to represent the upper end of the market, and while there are more expensive suits out there, in our experience there are few that match the Vanquish's lightening fast transition speed, well balanced buoyancy and ultra-flexible shoulder panels.

As you'd imagine it's a joy to swim in, feeling fast and comfortable. It was marginally quicker than the other suits over 400m, but the key factor was the stroke length it allowed. Compared to the excellent 2XU T2, the Vanquish encouraged more of a stretch after hand entry because there was so little resistance at maximum extension. This was probably down to the clever way the Vanquish is cut: it uses a single panel across the shoulders, with no seams to hinder the neoprene stretching. My strokes per 100m dropped from 52 in the 2XU to 50 in the Vanquish, but the greatest advantage for triathletes could be in the transition. Besides making you usefully recognisable to spectating friends, the red cuffs and ankle patches are so slippy that the suit can literally be ripped off. Combined with the upwards opening zip, it makes for the fastest transition of any suit we've tried.

Verdict: A superb suit. Significant gains available to competitive triathletes and swimmers. If you can afford it, you won't be disappointed. 9/10

Although Brit triathlete-run Zone3 do offer one higher prices suit (the Victory D), the Vanquish is definitely aimed at the high-performance end of the triathlon market. It combines multiple panels of varying thickness and different materials to blend a good combination of flexibility, buoyancy and warmth where they're needed most. The result is a very comfortable suit that was probable the most supple feeling of all those tested. On the inner forearms, a genuinely helpful feature is the use of small Lycra panels to increase feel for the water during the catch phase of the stroke. For more competent swimmers, this should be a real benefit. Thin, low-friction 'Speed-Cuffs' on the ankles and wrists make it very easy to strip the suit off in T1 and the reverse zipper works well once you get your head around pulling up to undo.

Verdict: Supple and comfy high-end suit with useful performance features.
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