My opinion on this is always going to be to buy a fullsuit. There are a couple reasons for this:

1. I have swam in a lot of different suits, I mean a LOT, and I know a full suit is faster for me. I think it may be faster for you too. The key(s) to good full suit perfromance are good fit, getting the suit on correctly and selecting the right suit for your swimming style. I like the DeSoto T1, QR Superfull (Awesome!) and Aquaman Metal Cell the best.

Be certain you learn to don the suit correctly. That is so important. Most people who do not like full suits don;t like them because they did not put them on correctly or they did not fit correctly.

2. Full suits are more expensive so I make a few more bucks selling someone an entry level full suit than a sleeveless full suit. This is partially selfish on my part, but it saves the customer money in the long run. I always say, "A sleeveless suit is what you buy before you buy a full suit."

Good luck....

PS, Dan is really the guy to ask about this. He invented the thing to begin with.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Thanks Tom
"A sleeveless suit is what you buy before you buy a full suit."
That's almost exactly what I've been thinking lately.

What do you think about my possible issue with a little looseness in my upper arms?
The whole suit feels like I think a wetsuit should fit. That is, the arms and legs are the right length, it's shug around pretty much my whole body, and all the openings are snug. The only place it's not is my upper arms. It's not saggy or anything, just looser than the rest.

Hmmm, I might be inlcined to have you try a different brand for comparison. Have you tried a DeSoto T1? They give you the option of sizing the top and bottom seperately for a more precise fit. That is an interesing possibility given your experience.

Also, I find the QR fullsuits have a pretty "athletic" fit, perhaps more so than the Aquaman suits.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I'm getting the impression here that you think this might be a problem area. I wasn't sure, which is why this thread exists. Is it possible for water to collect there even though the neck and wrists fit well? Through the zipper maybe?

I have not tried another brand yet. The two reasonably close shops I've tried carry QR and QR/Ironman. No Ironman suits in my size though. Perhaps this is what I get for trying to buy a wetsuit in July...

I have a DeSoto T1 and went with a size 5 top after waffling between 4 and 5. My ironman training is ramping up big time now and I've dropped 7-8 pounds since I raced in Muskoka which has meant that it fits a little loose now around my upper arms and in the underarm area. What I've noticed is that I don't have any water leaking in at the forearms or around the neck so that having a little excess material there hasn't made any difference so I'm still happy with my decision (I may have to buy a 4 someday if I lose another 5 or 6 lbs so that I have a suit for ironman years and "fat" non-IM years). I do know that I swim pretty fast (for me anyway) in my full suit after using a sleeveless for the previous 14 seasons. My recommendation is to see if you can try it out (DeSoto lets you buy and swim in their suits for 14 days and then return them no questions asked) and make sure that it is not so loose that it is leaking in a lot of water and that you are comfortable swimming in it.