Wetsuit help, first triathlon

Rent one if you use one. Google Wetsuit Rentals.  Not sure where you are located, but they ship.  I am on the West Coast and rented from Wetsuitrentals.com (Washington State).  Reasonable. 

If you haven't used one before I would suggest you give it a try before the race.  Can be pretty restricting the first couple of times if you aren't used to it.  200 yards maybe not.

Do you live somewhere that has a tri store?  They often rent wetsuits which I think is your best buck bang.  I would get it as soon as possible too and use it before race day as you will quickly learn the first time joys of not only putting on a suit but taking it off - body glyde and grocery bag works wonders.

Sorry, don't personally have experience with a cheapy suit.

Hi Cobalt,

18deg C is probably cool but not too bad for a 200m swim in just a bathing suit.  Although if you're talking salt water and may be exposed to jelly fish (even just the annoying kind) then even a cheapy suit may be helpful.

The cheapy suit is likely more of a boarding/waterskiing wetsuit and not great for swimming but try it on and see if it fits fairly snugly or not.  If it is loose you might find it will slow you down.  The advantage of a good wetsuit is it gives you buoyancy so you only have to worry about forward motion.  You are right to want to try the TRI before buying a wetsuit.  If you love it then a wetsuit is well worth buying but if you don't it'd be quite a waste.  Whatever you decide - try swimming in open water to see what it is like - atleast a few times before your TRI.

You can also talk to your race organizers and see what they recommend or go to local Tri shops and see what they suggest.  Renting a wetsuit is a good option but for 200m it would likely take you longer to take off the wetsuit than the swim itself.  If you do rent a wetsuit it is even more critical to swim in it and practice removing it without ripping it.

Don't worry about argy bargy in a 30 person heat.  They'll spread out pretty quickly.  To save some time look for quick tie shoelaces for your runners.  They'll save you time in your T2.  I also swam in my tri-shorts under my wetsuit so when I removed the suit I was ready to ride - once I put on my helmet and bike shoes.

Good luck and have fun in your first.  Hopefully you'll have a great time.

Thanks for the replies.  I'm in country Australia, no tri shops within 500km of me.  Only 3 days until the tri and no chance of open water swim before then.  My training from here will consist of 2 pool swims.

Not really worried about the time, just worried about struggling in the water hence wondering if a cheapie suit will be better than nothing.  For $20 might as well get one and see.