It's tough to put on a shirt in T1 when you are wet. Practice, if this is your plan.

What is your goal? Is it just to finish well, or win an AG (or overall)? I do sprints to win my AG, so I wear a single-piece trisuit. No muss, no fuss. However, if your goal is just have a good race and finish well, then I would not wear anything in the swim and then put on a fast tri shirt in T1 that you can wear through the bike and run.

Yeah, the goal is to win the age group. It’s a 400m swim, 10 mile ride, 3 mile run. Trying to finish around 58mins to 60mins. So, that transition is going to be a make it or break It. So you’re saying either get the tri suit, or just wear the shorts and put on the shirt after the swim? Would it be slow me down wearing an under armor compression shirt in the water, or would the problem be it being wet during the ride?

Winning a sprint 101:

• Do not wear a shirt in the water unless it is specifically designed to make you swim faster and is race legal. So, if that UA shirt is not a swim skin, do not wear it.
• Use a tri suit versus putting on a shirt in T1 (that will save you a few seconds)
• Use a tri suit, because it will make you faster on the bike (skin is slow, proper speed suits will make you faster in the water and bike)
  
• Do not wear socks on the bike or run.
• Use speed laces on the run.
• Have your shoes clipped-in in T1 and rubber-banded to the brake for quick mount. (You do not need to do a flying mount.)
• Have your bike max aero (BTA, one bottle BTS, no bottles in the frame, etc.)
• Use latex tubes and low Crr tires
• Run fast out of the water to T1; those are free seconds.
  

In my experience, 1st through 3rd in AG in a sprint is often within 15 seconds. So, the race is determined by as much as the non-endurance stuff as your fitness performance.

I would wear it for the swim. I'm assuming it's a compression fit. It would take you forever to get it on with wet skin. At sprint distance, the less you have to deal with in T1/T2 the faster you'll be.

I've done it both ways and it is a pain to put on when you are wet. One time I just put it on over my head and then figured I would finish the job as I was riding. When I got done, I realized it was on backwards. Too late to change. LOL. Last time I just wore a sleeveless compression top all the way thru. In some of the smaller local races, they don't enforce shirts, and I've gone shirtless (for shorter races.)

This is def true - in sprints, transitions and even the runs TO the transitions are at a huge premium!

If you're contending for the AG win/podium, you gotta get those precious seconds under your control. Tips above are spot on - one piece trisuit, no socks, speed laces (or prelaced shoes), and get used to having your bike shoes on the bike already in T1 and putting shoes on while riding.

And absolutely don't forget about the short runs TO transition - lollygagging there alone may cost you the win, yet I see quite a few pretty decent top 10% swimmers who literally start walking and continue walking the entire way out of the water and then to T1, even if it's a long distance.

I did my first in a tank top and try tri shorts since it was a reverse. I then bought the TYR tri-top...at the time it was cheaper than their no sleeve one piece...but guess what, you can get that for 105: https://www.tyr.com/...etitor-tri-suit.html

Also, I don't believe in going sock-less. If you aren't training sock-less, don't just randomly race sock-less.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Do the rules require that you wear a shirt?

Definitely. I will update my list. You get out of the water and haul-butt to T1. That is many easy seconds.

1. If you are gunning to win in a sprint, then you go sock-less
2. Its only a 5K, so going sock-less is not that big a deal
   
3. You buy shoes designed to be worn sock-less
4. You try out the shoes a couple times ahead of the run

I have bad feet, so will say your opinion doesn't matter. If those 20 seconds really matter to him, he could have gotten them elsewhere. Wear socks.

---

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

would take more than 20 seconds to put on socks when feet are wet, if you are allowed to place a towel in transition stand on that to soak up some drips and just harden the f up, run your hardest out of transition and get on your bike. If you want to win, don't wear socks. Some athletes put a bit of talcum powder in their run shoes to help prevent blisters.
Oh yeah, and wear a tri shirt or legal compression top in swim, don't waste time trying put something on in transition.

Not liking an opinion does not invalidate it. These are the results from a sprint I did last year in which I came in 3rd in my AG. Check out how close 4th and 5th were to my 3rd place time. If I had not done everything above, including wearing sock-less shoes, then I would have been in 5th place.

1st 1:17:22
2dn 1:17:44
3rd 1:18:20
4th 1:18:22
5th 1:18:22

The point of this is that every second matters, and it is extremely difficult to make up just a second or two at the podium, much less 10 - 15 seconds. If you have a limitation that precludes you from wearing sockless shoes, then you either need to be an incredible biker or runner, you need to find races with weak fields, or you are not racing for podiums in sprint triathlons.

With a few exceptions, all of my sprint & olympic AG podium placements were determined by my transition times. In other words, if my T1 & T2 times were as fast as the person (or people ahead of me), I would have been in their place on the podium. With a sprint & olympic, your fitness gets you into the top 5. Your transitions determine podium placement.