A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material, which reduce its ability to conduct heat. The bubbles also give the wetsuit a low density, providing buoyancy in water.

The layer of warm water normally trapped between the suit and the skin provides very little thermal insulation, contrary to popular beliefs regarding wetsuits.

Hugh Bradner, a University of California, Berkeley physicist invented the modern wetsuit in 1951. Wetsuits became available in the mid-1950s and evolved as the relatively fragile foamed neoprene was first backed, and later sandwiched, with thin sheets of tougher material such as nylon or later Lycra/Spandex. Improvements in the way joints in the wetsuit were made by gluing, taping and blindstitching, helped the suit to remain waterproof and reduce flushing, the replacement of water trapped between suit and body by cold water from the outside. Further improvements in the seals at the neck, wrists and ankles produced a suit known as a "semi-dry".

Patrick Shane Dorian (born July 19, 1972), or "Shane", is an American surfer from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. He spent 11 years touring on the World Championship Tour surfing.

Dorian was born to Patrick, a former Hollywood actor and stunt double for Elvis Presley, and Susan, who competed in female bodybuilding events. When Shane was three, his parents opened a restaurant called "Dorian's" on the beach. Being a child, Dorian was too young to wait tables, and long hours at the restaurant resulted in him turning to the ocean for amusement.

Dorian attended Konawaena High School.

He started out on a bodyboard alongside friend, and future bodyboarder champion, Mike Stewart. Dorian received his first surfboard, from his dad, on his fifth birthday. He soon abandoned the bodyboard to focus on surfing.

Surfing and surfing education became a priority for Dorian. Dorian's mother, who had divorced Patrick when Shane was 12, worked out a system where Shane would spend the second and third quarters of the school year on the North Shore of Oahu (the peak winter season) and the first and fourth quarters back home on the Big Island.