tulip - it creates a tremendous amount of bouyancy. I was stunned the first time I swam in mine (last week!)! It was actually difficult to pull my feet underneath me when I was in the water - they just wanted to float to the surface. A lot of swimmers lose a ton of speed and expend too much energy because they basically drag their lower body through the water (as it sinks for many)...so the wetsuit makes the swim easier and faster. As Susan mentioned, it makes you so bouyant that it's a nice comfort for people who aren't real confident in open water.

Me? Not so much. I'm not used to it, so it kind of makes me uncomfortable. And I have a natural bouyancy to my lower body anyway...so I don't need it to float. AND, I'm very cold-tolerant (both in and out of the water) so I don't need the warmth unless it's really cold. In fact, when we were swimming in 55F water last week, my torso actually got a tad overly warm in the suit until I intentionally let more water flow in!

I'd like to be a better swimmer so that I can skip it for all but the coldest swims (or much longer ones, of course), like V.