Choose your 1% with Orca's new wetsuit range

Orca’s new wetsuit range features a move forward in flexibility and freedom of movement. Designed to improve feel for water and reduce fatigue, they will give you the crucial extra 1% needed to perform at your best.

Orca have long been a trusted brand in triathlon, with their wetsuits scoring highly in our wetsuits for triathlon group tests.

In 2022, the brand marked a milestone in wetsuit design and innovation with a new range of suits. Cutting through the confusion over which suit to choose, Orca divided their range into two categories: the Athlex and the Apex.

In each category there are then three suits: the Float, Flex, Flow – each with different characteristics and buoyancy levels to ensure your suit meets your needs.

Flexibility through the shoulders was a key consideration in the new range. Shown here: Apex Flex

Updates for 2025

Always faithful to innovation, Orca’s new designs in the Athlex and Apex ranges improve triathletes’ natural ability to engage with the water. They incorporate technologies related to elasticity, buoyancy, and hydrodynamics to optimize position and fluidity of movement while swimming.

The new Athlex and Apex (Float, Flex and Flow) triathlon range are being renewed with updated versions.

From 2025, both Athlex and Apex wetsuits will incorporate an innovative patterning in the shoulder area, offering triathletes a new swimming experience with even more freedom.

Tests carried out by the Orca team in the laboratory have shown that it takes 5N less to stretch a neoprene panel 100% without graphics than with graphics. For this reason, Orca has decided to move the graphics from the shoulders to the arms to save energy for its athletes.

Six updated wetsuits comprise the new range. Shown here: the Athlex Flex

Using the 1% theory

High performance continues to evolve and improve in its relentless pursuit of excellence. The 1% theory suggests that significant progress doesn’t necessarily come from big changes but from small, consistent improvements.

Improving as little as 1% every day culminates in exponential results in the long run – it’s a philosophy that accompanies Orca in its product design process, as well as athletes in their daily training.

Recognising that change comes from the smallest details, an already proven range of suits has been meticulously examined and improved to give that crucial extra element of performance.

The ‘Choose Your 1%’ philosophy is Orca’s invitation to embrace those small yet powerful advancements: a gesture, an adjustment, a step closer to perfection.

The 1% mindset isn’t just applied to the brand’s new triathlon range; it’s the driving force behind every decision you make.

Whether it’s choosing between the Flow, Flex, or Float models, every small choice compounds to exponential gains throughout the season.

Athlex or Apex?

The Athlex range of wetsuits are designed to offer affordable performance, with the latest technologies for triathletes who want to work on their technique and improve every day, while also enjoying their swimming experience.

The Athlex wetsuits will become your greatest ally in the water. A range that meets your needs and enhances your skills.

Designed for those who dare to start, Athlex accompanies you from your first challenge to victory. Fresh, dynamic and full of energy, this range is for those who are looking for more than a product: they are looking for change.

The Athlex range is aimed at swimmers improving their technique but still wanting flexibility. Show here: Athlex Flow

If you’re racing to compete and want to invest more in your swim experience though, then turn to the Apex suits.

The Apex range are the most advanced of Orca’s wetsuits. They combine the best technologies to offer you maximum performance in the water. In this range, high performance continues to evolve and improve in its relentless pursuit of excellence.

The Apex is the perfect wetsuit for those athletes who strive to optimise their performance while enjoying total freedom in every stroke.

Float, Flex or Flow?

Once you’ve decided on your range, then it’s time to think about what features – and therefore what category – of suit you need.

Here’s how it works. The Athlex and Apex suits are divided into three categories so that each triathlete can find the wetsuit that best fits their needs and allows them to achieve that 1% improvement in performance every day.

The Float suits have the highest degree of buoyancy. They are designed for triathletes whose technique isn’t the most refined or for those who compete long distances and are looking for maximum buoyancy and stability when swimming. In this way, the Float allows you to save energy for the bike and run segments.

The Float suits re designed to give more buoyancy and better body position, with thicker neoprene in the legs and core. Shown here: Apex Float

The Flex suits offer maximum flexibility and are designed for and aimed at triathletes with a refined technique that doesn’t need extra buoyancy in order to maintain a good position in the water. It’s the perfect wetsuit for those athletes with good technique who don’t need to strive to optimise their performance, while enjoying total freedom in every stroke.

The Flex suits give more flexibility, as the name suggests! Shown here: Athlex Flex

Finally, the Flow wetsuits guarantee a natural stroke without restrictions, thanks to the flexibility in the upper half of the suit. In addition, they provide the buoyancy in the lower half of the suit necessary to help the swimmer maintain a hydrodynamic position in the water, achieve an efficient kick, and conserve energy to perform at their best in the following stages of the triathlon.

Updated features

So what sets the new Apex Float, Flex and Flow apart from the old versions?

You’ll find they have a new patterning in the shoulder area, which reduces tension and increases the freedom of movement in your stroke.

In addition, thanks to various laboratory tests, it has been found that neoprene panels with graphics are less elastic than those without. Therefore, in the search for marginal gains, the graphics have been moved from the shoulders to the arms so that the shoulder panel is more elastic and less energy is wasted during long swims or segments.

Moving the graphics to the arm not the shoulder increases flexibility through the stroke across the range. Shown here: Apex Flex

Conclusion

So there you have it – a range of specialist wetsuits updated for 2025 with every triathlete in mind. We’ll be testing some of the new suits here at 220 Triathlon soon, so look out for the reviews over the next couple of months.

Find out more and choose your suit now at orca.com.

About

Helen has been 220's Editor since July 2013, when she made the switch from marathons to multisport. She's usually found open-water swimming and has competed in several swimruns as well as the ÖtillÖ World Series. Helen is a qualified Level 2 Open-Water Swim Coach focusing on open-water confidence and runs regular workshops at the South West Maritime Academy near Bristol. She is also an RLSS UK Open Water Lifeguard trainer/assessor.