About 10'ish years ago I bought a sleeveless wetsuit for an Ironman. I had gained a little weight and my small wetsuit no longer fit comfortably and this one was on sale—fit was good but almost big. The swim ended up not being wetsuit legal, so I never wore it—it has never even been in the water. Shortly thereafter, I stopped doing triathlons and eventually settled into running. Now I am getting back into triathlons and I have this wetsuit, but even though I weight less than when I bought it, the fit is uncomfortably snug (not in the water).
So, my question is if these things shrink or degrade over time? I am totally fine if I gained weight, but when I looked at the sizing charts of the new suits, they would place me at that grey zone where I could buy either the same size or a size smaller than my current suit. Since it has been sitting in my closet, is there a way to treat it to make it more flexible? I really don't want to buy a new one because where I live is hot and maybe only one or two early season races a year might be wetsuit legal.
So, my question is if these things shrink or degrade over time? I am totally fine if I gained weight, but when I looked at the sizing charts of the new suits, they would place me at that grey zone where I could buy either the same size or a size smaller than my current suit. Since it has been sitting in my closet, is there a way to treat it to make it more flexible? I really don't want to buy a new one because where I live is hot and maybe only one or two early season races a year might be wetsuit legal.