Xterra Vortex 3 Sleeveless

I am not a strong or skilled swimmer. I am however interested in triathlon and have been doing a reasonable amount of open water swimming (OWS) this year. My first few OWS were uncomfortable and the wetsuit I had carefully fitted last year felt constricted. It did loosen up, but not before I came across a good deal on Xterra wetsuits. I was interested in a sleeveless suit and was originally attracted to the Volt. I ended up purchasing the Vortex 3 for a few dollars more, without any attention to the distinction between the 3 tiers of sleeveless wetsuits offered by Xterra (Volt, Vortex 3, Vector Pro X2).

It arrived well packaged last night and felt a little loose when I tried it on last night. I was kind of surprised that I could zip it up by myself. I did not feel any air pockets or bunching in the length so I took it out for a test swim this morning. It felt much different swimming in a sleeveless wetsuit. I did not notice a buoyancy reduction by using a sleeveless suit. The freedom of movement was wonderful.

I ended up swimming 4 laps on the 400 yard course at Union Reservoir and had absolutely no complaints. My times did not reflect a speed difference relative to my last swim out there with my full suit (2XU Team).