Braeden loves being in the water and particularly enjoys participating in water activities with the whole family, but he cannot swim. He can walk in a pool if he can touch the bottom and he is capable of sitting in shallow water but swimming in the traditional sense isn’t possible for him. In the past when we have been diving into deeper water with Braeden we have either put a life-jacket on him or propped him up with a pool noodle. Both of these options work okay but the life-jacket tends to ride up around his neck not making it comfortable and the pool noodle limits his movement. So, when Drew from Beachwheels Australia gifted us a wetsuit to take with us to Western Australia we were keen to give it a go. Not only did I think it would be a good solution for Braeden but I was also keen to share a FloatSuit review with our community in case it may prove helpful.
FloatSuit review
Although Braeden has some mobility with assistance, everything is hard work for him. Even now when he walks we notice how much he perspires and how his veins pop out on his forehead with the effort that goes into moving. Water provides an ease of movement that is relaxing for Braeden but the ability to swim has eluded him. That hasn’t changed his love of being in the water. On our trip to Western Australia we had thought he’d be jumping in with us off the back of boats and a FloatSuit would offer him ease of movement in the water, while providing us with peace of mind. Unfortunately, due to his concussion, and the cut on his eyebrow, we were advised to keep him out of deep water so we were unable to test the FloatSuit to its full potential.
Although we didn’t use it in deep water we did give it a go and found that it was easier than a regular wetsuit to put on, thanks to a longer than usual zipper, Braeden was comfortable wearing it and it has been designed so it doesn’t stand out as something particularly different. Of course, it is different because it has the built-in foam in the chest area which assists with flotation. I think Braeden looks like Mr Incredible (from the movie The Incredibles) when he is wearing it and I’m hopeful it will giving him floating superpowers in the future.
We decided the ultimate test would be to ask a family member who is unable to float to try it out. This family member loves water activities and actively seeks out snorkelling tours when travelling but as someone who cannot float he finds swimming tiring and hard work. He and Braeden are a similar size so he gave it a go and his feedback was positive. He said that he could swim with greater ease and it was much less tiring ultimately making being in the water more pleasurable. In other words, he was sold.
Although we would always be within an arm’s length of Braeden when we were in any water environment we feel that if he was wearing the FloatSuit it would make being in the water more enjoyable for us too. Instead of feeling we needed to be hands on we’d be freely swim or float ourselves.
For anyone wondering about sizing there are details on the Beachwheels website but as a rough guide, we were gifted a medium size wetsuit and Braeden is 167cm and about 59kg. The medium fits just right.
We think the FloatSuit may make a great gift or purchase for someone who needs that boost in the water to stay afloat or someone who tires easily when swimming. If you are interested you are able to read more about the FloatSuit on the Beachwheels Australia website.
As always, our opinions are our own but in this case we have also included the opinions from our family member who was impressed.
