Summary
Great value. Comfortable. Easy to swim with.
The Advance is ZONE3’s first proper race suit — Yamamoto #39 on the shoulders, 4 mm through the core and thighs, Pro-Speed cuffs, laser-cut collar, no external flatlock. It is not the Aspire. It does not pretend to be. What it does, at $399 / £299, is give you a Yamamoto stroke and a body line you can race without spending mid-premium money.
On test the suit closed well, the shoulders stayed free enough to forget the price tag, and T1 in the shallows was straightforward. If you are buying a first full-sleeve, or you want a training-and-racing workhorse that will not feel like a brick, this is the one.
PROS
– Outstanding value — Yamamoto #39 at an entry-level ticket
– Comfortable from the first swim, not after a month of breaking in
– Easy to swim with. Raglan sleeve and 1.5 mm Free-Flex shoulders do the job
– 4 mm core and thigh panels hold a usable body line
– Slimline Pro-Speed cuffs come off clean
– Laser-cut collar sits without the usual sawing
– High-vis teal prints are actually useful at last light
CONS
– Not an Aspire. If you want 100% B-Prene and an X-10 shoulder, that is the next suit up
– 1.5–2 mm arms mean this is a temperate-water suit, not a winter thermal
Best For
First-time wetsuit buyers and experienced athletes who want a comfortable full-sleeve they can train and race in without spending mid-premium money.
RRP: $399 USD / £299
Colour tested: Women’s Black / Turquoise / Gunmetal
Sizes: Women XS–XXL including SM, ST, ML | Men S–XXL including SM, ST, MT, ML
Thickness map: 1.5 mm Free-Flex shoulders, ~2 mm arms, 3–4 mm torso and thighs, 3 mm lower legs
Initial impressions
It looks more expensive than it is
ZONE3 has sold the Advance as the best entry-level triathlon wetsuit on the market for years. The current suit is the one that earned that line a second life: Yamamoto #39 SCS Free-Flex on the shoulders, AQUA-X and Smoothskin on the rest of the body, ten materials in the panel map, no nylon panels, no external flatlock.
That last point matters more than the marketing. Flatlock on cheap suits is how water gets in and how the suit starts to feel like a sponge by buoy two. The Advance is glued and constructed like the suits above it, then priced like the suits below it.
Off the deck the women’s Black/Turquoise/Gunmetal colourway looks like race kit. Teal cuffs, ADVANCE down the sleeve, gloss and gunmetal panels, high-vis prints across the lumbar. It does not look like a first suit. On the hanger it is also lighter than the old Advance — ZONE3 claims 16% down on the 2020 model for the same buoyancy and warmth, and in the hand it tracks.
It sits under the Aspire and the Vanquish-X. After swimming both the Advance and the Aspire this week, the gap is real and honest. Aspire is softer, more panelled, more race-day. Advance is the suit you can actually own as your only suit.
FIT
Snug. Not a wrestling match.
Fit on the women’s suit we swam was clean. Chest and shoulders closed without the usual fight. The laser-cut collar is the detail most entry-level suits get wrong — they either leak or they saw. This one sits. Soft-close, no hot spot after the session.
Raglan sleeve layout is why the suit does not bind when you reach forward to zip a friend, or when you start the first 200 m. Combined with the 1.5 mm #39 Free-Flex shoulder, the arm goes where you put it. That is the difference between “comfortable for the price” and actually easy to swim with.
Women’s sizes run XS through XXL with SM, ST and ML in the middle. Men’s run S through XXL with SM, ST, MT and ML. Use the chart. A wetsuit that is a fraction too big is a slower, colder suit, and the Advance’s 4 mm panels only do their job when they are on you, not floating around you.
ZONE3’s unused return window still applies. Get the size right on the hanger. Swim it and you own it.
Comfort & Performance
The stroke stays free. The legs stay up. T1 stays simple.
Comfortable, and easy to swim with. That was the whole note, and the water backed it up.
Shoulders are the first thing you feel on a cheap suit, and they are the first thing you stop feeling on this one. #39 SCS at 1.5 mm through the Free-Flex panel is the reason. It is not the one-piece X-10 on the Aspire. It does not need to be. For a first or second season of open water, and for most age-group race swims, the Advance lets you swim your stroke instead of a shortened version of it.
Buoyancy is the other half. 4 mm through the torso and front thighs is enough to hold a usable body line without kicking you into a ski. If you already swim flat, you will not notice it. If your legs sink, you will. That is the job of an entry-level race suit, and this one does it without the over-lift that makes some cheap suits feel like swimming downhill.
T1 in the shallows was the pleasant surprise. Slimline Pro-Speed cuffs on the legs peel. Combined with the lining, the suit comes off without a beach fight. For a first 70.3 that is free time. For a weekly lake loop it is simply less faff.
Warmth is honest. Brand scores the Advance a 6 for warmth, and that matches the thickness map. Temperate open water, yes. 10°C lake at dawn, no — that is a different product. High-vis teal on the cuffs and lumbar is useful when the light drops, which it did on the evening we shot the walk-out.
AQUA-X and Smoothskin are the coatings. Translate them: the suit does not drink as much water as a nylon-panel beginner suit, and it feels faster because it is lighter at the end of the swim, not just on the hanger.
Where the Aspire still wins, if you have the money: softer B-Prene everywhere, a more finished shoulder, a more race-day panel map. Where the Advance wins: you can buy it, train in it, race in it, and not feel like you bought the wrong first suit.
Durability
Ten materials is usually a warning. Here it is the point — ZONE3 put the expensive rubber where you rotate and the tougher panels where you sit on a rock. Glued construction, no external flatlock, YKK zip.
After a salt swim this week the suit rinsed, the teal cuffs came up clean, and the sleeve graphic still looked new. Treat it like race rubber anyway. Bags on the feet. Nails off the seams. Do not stand on the legs to yank them up.
Twelve-month manufacturing warranty. Fingernail cuts are still on you.
VERDICT
Great value for the price. We would buy the Advance as a first full-sleeve, and we would keep swimming it after the first season.
It is comfortable. It is easy to swim with. The Yamamoto shoulder and the 4 mm core are why it does not feel like an entry-level suit once you are past the first buoy. Spend the extra on the Aspire if you want the mid-premium rubber and you will race it every weekend. Spend this if you want one suit that does the job properly without the mid-premium ticket.
