New here - Introduction from Vancouver

Hi Rod, and welcome!

To answer your questions:

1) Wetsuits are allowed in most races, and it's water temperature dependent. Most any event you do in Washington and Oregon will be wetsuit legal. As for the buoyancy vs. warmth part, it's one or the other, or even both. Wetsuit buoyancy adds a bit of a safety factor, but I caution you to not use that as a crutch. It also helps with body position in the water for some people, which helps with swim form and speed. But there's a trade-off with the time needed to doff the wetsuit in first transition. I'm in the warmth camp. I've found that the warmth I have in the wetsuit makes me faster in the bike immediately, and that alone offsets the time to remove it in T1. Don't bother with outdoor swimming in the winter. In fact, in my area the outdoor season would run May to October.

2) Don't worry about it. Yes, the experience is different in open water, but it's more sighting related and keeping in a straight line. Train in the pool, do some open water swimming when the season allows. For cycling, though, there are many people who retreat indoors for "safety" reasons, or justify that they get a better workout on the trainer than out on the road. And usually I can recognize these people when they do get out on the road by their form and (in)ability to ride in a straight line. YMMV.

3) There are a large number of events in Washington and especially the Portland area. I've liked the Hagg Lake (southwest of Portland) races, and there's a tri out of Blue Lake Park (east of Portland) that's a high quality race. Check with the locals and shops.