Just wanted to see what everybody thought about wetsuit options for IMFL. Sleeveless or Full? What do you think? And, why?
IMFL was my first IM in 2002. I wore a sleeveless suit and was fine. That’s all I had then but if I raced there again I would go full as long as the water wasn’t too warm. I guess you may not heat up as much in a sleeveless. If I recall correctly, most were in full suits in 2002.
Full or sleeveless is a personal opinion
FL water isn’t cold
I like full sleeve personally that’s just me, I hate cold water.
Full is faster.
A lot of people go sleeved because of the jellies
.
Jellyfish. 
(edit) 2011 I swam through a whole herd of jellyfish. Didn’t touch any but was glad my arms were covered.
2012 I went full sleeve and 2013 sleeveless, I got a little hot in the full sleeve and felt great in the sleeveless.
Also its easier to wrestle with everyone in a sleeveless.
I went with a full sleeve in 2012 but fortunately did not encounter any jellyfish. Several of my friends had done the race and encountered many jellyfish in prior year’s races. The water was called 69 degrees in 2012 if I remember correctly and I had no issue with being hot in my suit.
Sleeves is always faster. Always.
Wear whatever you have and are used to. It is cool enough for full, warm enough for sleeveless. I wore a full and had no issues (minus giant neck hickey).
I wore a sleeveless and had no issues.
I was the first amateur women out of the last IMFL swim and wore sleeveless! I do hear sleeves are faster but for me I get shoulder exhaustion. I am a shoulder driven swimmer and have tried numerous long sleeve suits with out a match! Hard for a south Floridian to practice in long sleeve. I would have overheated in full sleeve at the effort I was going. I was toasty in sleeveless. That’s me tho, my friends were comfy as could be with long sleeve. Everyone is different. I say for an iron go for comfort.
Thank you to everyone that replied. It seems the votes are split. I do have both. I like my sleeveless better. However, I did an open water swim in the gulf while I was on vacation and had some issues with bare arms. It seemed that I was getting stung by something. Originally, I thought they were jellies, but I did not see any. When I got through with my swim, I had some sort of film on my arms. So, I’m back to undecided. I don’t think the temperature is going to be an issue either way. It might have to be a game time decision. As of right now, I am leaning towards sleeveless. Thanks again everyone!