Orca Aesir Swimrun Wetsuit Review

The Orca Aesir Flex Swimrun Wetsuit is a premium suit, designed for speed, comfort and flexibility. Orca purports to be the most ‘elastic’ wetsuit in the range and designed for performance in the water and over land. The road to creating the Aesir Flex has been a long one. Designer, Ander Lopez reflects on the end product:

Orca identify the most appropriate fitting which, combined with the highest quality materials, has created the most flexible and comfortable swimrun wetsuit.

Our tester put it through its paces on one of the most demanding swimrun courses in the world, ÖTILLÖ The Swimrun World Championship. An unrelenting 70km course which has every sort of obstacle you can think of with jagged rock, boulders, cliffs and wild seas. 

Supreme Flexibility & Comfort 

Flexibility is the most important feature in a swimrun wetsuit, which allows the wearer to glide seamlessly through the water and run over technical terrain without any constraint. The Aesir Flex was supreme in this regard, it felt like a second skin in the water and was comfortable on regular and adaptive strokes as you are buffeted around in the sea. 

The suit handled faster running on flat roads really well and bounding over slippery boulders with ease and no restrictions. It weighs just under 600g (dry) which is comparable to the competition although some way off the lightest swimrun wetsuit on the market. Orca have ‘DuraSkin 2 material’ in the bottom half of the wetsuit and have very effective protection against sliding in and out of rocks. 

The Aesir Flex easily adapted to having 10 gels, a flask, whistle, spare goggles and bandage stuffed in a pouch underneath the suit which is probably the most equipment you will need carry in a day of racing and reinforced its credentials as one of the most flexible wetsuits in the world. 

One of the best things about the Aesir Flex is the quality of the wetsuit. Indeed this is where Orca’s pedigree really shines through, it is well made and the seams are flawless with any stress areas where it might tear reinforced. An intriguing and unique ‘jacket style’ front zip means cabbing down on runs is easy as the suit simply unzips. Due to its tight fit nature, it is slightly harder to have a full cab down pulling down from your shoulders, although you are likely only to want to do this when running for 20 minutes or more and we found the ‘jacket style’ cab down, a quick and easy process.

Optimal Water Temperature

The tight fit nature of this suit prevents water ingress and provides plenty of warmth in the water and will be suitable for anything over 14 degrees. This should have you well covered for the majority of swimrun races with additional neoprene arm sleeves for extra warmth as required. 

Extra Features 

The Aesir Flex has a minimalist, classic and stylish look which we liked, included with the suit are two arm sleeves for colder waters.

The design does mean there are no usable pockets on this wetsuit. It is clear that Orca have wanted to create something which is as sleek as fast as possible but it requires the swimrunner to have some sort of pouch, vest or belt as there is nowhere to stash gear or nutrition. On the inside of the suit is a useful back pouch to house a GPS tracker which is becoming increasingly more common for longer races.

The Verdict 

The Aesir Flex is a sublime swimrun wetsuit and right up there with one of the best suits you can get. It is highly flexible and comfortable with an excellent build quality. The lack of any functional storage detracts slightly from an otherwise excellent wetsuit but certainly a good choice for all-day comfort on challenging swimrun courses. 

The Aesir Flex has quite astonishing flexibility which makes it every good choice for all body types and actually, this is the most flexible product on the market right now. It is well made and we expect you would have many seasons of hard-use from it. Designer Ander Lopez, concludes:

Orca is not only aware of the performance and comfort when designing the wetsuits, but durability is also essential for the brand as we want to create as little waste as possible. “Made to last” is also our mantra.

The Orca Aesir Flex Swimrun Wetsuit retails at £449.