A couple questions about an upcoming race...

As far as later waves being easier for set-up/timing....one thing to consider is that the later the waves the later the race. Depends on where the race is on whether that matters or not. I know at St. Anthony's my wife's AG wave was nearly two hours after mine and she had much harder conditions. The wind started to pick-up and the heat was getting worse.

Just one argument for being in the earliest wave possible. Even the first wave would have plenty of time to set everything up.

Michael

Have you swam in 79 degree water with the wetsuit?   Timewise, you'll float better, but risk overheating if you go hard, so the net result may be only a marginal change in times. 

As for Athena versus AG.  Which starts earlier, and what is the weather supposed to be this weekend?  A 9 AM start will have you running in the heat from 11 to noon. 

Figure on the transition being busy/crowded on one end of the bike.  If you're in a late wave, it'll be almost empty for T1, but everyone else will have been back before you get to T2 (and almost nobody stops to tidy up transition before heading out on the run).