I just got a wetsuit, and I have never swam in one before. I was thinking about trying it out in the pool. How bad for the wetsuit is a chlorinated pool?
Pretty bad, but if you only did it once or twice and washed it off thoroughly right away there shouldn’t be any issue. Wash it off with something gentle like baby shampoo afterwards to get the chlorine off.
Not sure what the water temp of your pool is, but be very careful of over heating. I wouldn’t be swimming many masters sessions with a wetsuit in 78 degree water 
eric
When I got my first tri wetsuit, I took it to the pool twice to practice. Several people were aghast at the mere suggestion that I would engage such an outrageous act. The salesman said I would void the warranty and another triathlete who happened to be at the same pool was openly critical of the idea. After all of the panic, I expected the darn thing to come unraveled mid-stroke. But, alas, it did not. In fact, I don’t think it made any difference at all. I did rinse it off after I got done. Its lasted several years since.
Now, the overheating thing is definitely true. Don’t do a full workout in it, you’ll kill yourself. Just do a couple hundred meters in it, nice and easy, to get a feel for the difference.
i worked around the problem of never having swam in a wetsuit by heading out to the race site a day before my first race with it. since races are usually on sundays, you could always go out saturday afternoon (or evening after work) and swim all or part of the course at a leisurely pace in the wetsuit. you could both learn the course as well as get a feel for the new suit. although it does make a big difference in body position, i found that after about 15 minutes in it, i felt perfectly comfortable.
Every time I do an IM, I do several long pool swims in my wetsuit. I have never had a problem with the effects on the wetsuit. Always rinse the suit after use… even if it is ‘fresh water’.