It's Saturday Morning - Time for Some Newbie Questions!

I would not skip the coffee....you might get a caffien withdrawl headache.  Also caffiene has been shown to increase performance.

Put your shoes on and then walk out.

If you're gonna wear sock, definately dry your feet or you'll have a hard time getting your socks on.

Remember to look around at all the excitement and have fun!

~Mike

The sheer fact that you are asking these questions is an indication that you will do fine at the race.  Good luck!

#1 I would walk in my shoes to the line then mount the bike. It's not that bad, lots of other people will be clip clopping through transition in bike shoes. If you put your shoes on at the mount line you will start to get in other people's way.

#2 I once read in a Hal Higdon book to drink as normal the day before, don't drink 2 - 3 hours before the start then start again 15 minutes before. I'm no expert but it works for me.

#3 Given your goals I say do whatever makes you comfortable. It's difficult to pull a shirt on when you are wet so you will probably save some of the time back.

#4 I think most people can get through a sprint without fueling during it. However eating a banana at T1 sounds like a great idea.

Best of luck and have a great time! I hope this is the first of many tris for you.

Put the shoes on in the transition area and walk in your bike shoes.  It will be faster than lugging shoes around, safer, and will be less disruptive the flow of traffic.  The shoes aren't that bad to walk in once you get used to them.

Before any endurance event, you should drink well the night before and day of, just like you were doing in training. Don't restrict water to avoid excess urination. A pip stop would be less problematic than suffering deydration and cramping, don't you think?

I wouldn't imagine the toweling off would do much for you.  You dry off quickly on the bike and it's part of the fun/experience. However, nothing says you can't towel off if it makes you happy.

Eat a good breakfast, but eat 2-3 hours before the event.

1. Drink enough - and make sure you get there early enough to make a couple trips to the bathroom if you have to. Oh, and pee in the lake

2. Don't bother toweling off - though keep a towel in transition to lay out your stuff, and you should at least wipe off your feet. But the rest of you will dry.

3. Your breakfast sounds fine, as long as you know this works for you. However, how are you going to manage a banana or orange slices in transition? Seems kinda high-maintenance food (peeling a banana or esp. an orange). And ditto to the post above - oranges are acidic and could bother your stomach while running. Probably best to stick to something really neutral AND something you've used before. Do you use gels? If so, that might be your best bet - easy to eat and digest. If you eat one on the bike, you'll be set for the run.

Good answers so far, I'll try to provide additional info"

1. Put your shoes on at your rack. You're not going to find a designated spot to put shoes on at the mount/dismount line, and may even get in someone's way if you try it like that. And I wouldn't recommend a first-timer try the shoes-on-the-bike thing.
2. One of the hardest thing I've found to fine tune is the hydration fine line. Generally I stop drinking an hour before start an make several visits to the porta-potty in that final hour. If lines start to form I will often go straight from the p-p back into line. Object is to make the last trip as close as possible to the start of the race. If you do that, you should not have to go again in a sprint. Oh, and I need my coffee to get other, more solid things moving!
3. No purpose to toweling off, but if it makes you comfortable go for it. Likely you'll be mostly dry on the run from the swim to the transition area, if not you'll dry off very quickly on the bike. Some people use a small towel to wipe dirt/sand off their feet, but if your's is a pool swim you may not even have to bother with that.
4. Eat the same breakfast as you do before your morning training sessions (PRIMARY RULE: nothing new on race day!). Unless you're going to be out there longer than two hours, there's no real need to eat anything during the race itself.

Best advice i can give is to practice the transitions under conditions that closely simulate those of the race. Wet yourself down, run around the house, put on bike shoes and gear while still damp and out of breath. Run with bike on concrete surface, mount, ride around the block, dismount, run back with bike (all in your bike shoes). Change to running shoes, remove helmet, then run around the block. Practice your finish line smile and pose.

Good luck, and have fun!

Normally good advice, but his is a pool swim!

x2  LOL, I was just going to say that if you can skip your cup of coffee, then you are already hard core.   Just drink it a couple hours before start time and you'll be fine.  And yep, try taking a couple gels along during the bike -- *much* easier to consume than real food.

Hardest  thing I ever encountered was getting my bike jersey on over my wet body.   Even having it rolled perfectly to unroll, it still catches and gets hung up.     Plus my bib# (had safety pinned it) got all smooshed and  torn.  (Got a fuel belt for the bib # after that)

After many triathlons, I still haven't got it worked out.  This is from last years HIM.

(Stupid Jersey!)

Yes.  In fact, even with a wetsuit.  Wear your gear underneath, then take off the wetsuit and you're good to go.  Of course, everything will be wet, but you usually dry off quickly.  The only exception would be if it's a cold day, and you really need something dry for warmth.   

Only thing to add to OP's questions is about the food.

As far as breakfast, find something that works for you and that you have TRIED in a training situation where you are doing an intensity workout.  I do NOT eat a normal breakfast on race day at all - I have a clifbar.  This is about the only thing I've found that I can eat that does not cause GI distress (cramps, nausea, etc) in a race situation.

I do NOT eat fruit during the race (see above) I go with a gel, easier on my stomach.  For a sprint, you don't really need that much fuel - I'd save the fruit for afterwards.  If you've tried this in training though, then go for it.