Originally Posted by
Rumpled
Get a wetsuit. A full trisuit should be worth about 7-12 seconds per 100 yards. A shorty a bit less.
Do the math; that's 5-8 minutes in an Ironman.
Even in a 1.5/40/10 it's worth 1.5-3 minutes.
Where are you getting your information? Unless you are really really bad at swimming (like not making the cutoff bad) or the water is exceedingly cold (say, 50 degrees F) the difference is not more than 2-5 seconds per 100. I have tried some of the fastest suits (legskin for competitive swimming) in the world, fully tapered, everything not covered shaven, and I could only beat my best times by 3-5 seconds (depending on event) per 100.
As far as trisuits go, yes they do feel amazing. I tried on a 2XU one in a store and i just felt fast.