Unable to zip my own wetsuit. Is this normal?

A couple of things that might help:

• Rub a little soap, candle wax or Bodyglide on the zipper teeth to lube them a bit
• If it's getting stuck at the very bottom, start the zipper a couple of inches before you put the legs on
• If there's a flap of neoprene that goes between your skin and the zipper, pull up on it behind your neck to make sure it's lying flat against your back so the zipper doesn't catch it
• Try pulling down a bit on the bottom of the zipper with one hand while you're pulling up on the leash with the other
• If none of that works, time to make a new tri friend

I was fine til I bought my new sleeveless which does up top to bottom - no way!  I went to the beach a few weeks back on a random week day and had to ask some old guy sunbathing to do it for me!

If it's race day or squad then heaps of people helping each other out.  Again though no problem getting it off!  It's a great way to make friends????

It's not uncommon.  Bottom-up zippers aren't that bad, Top-down zip ones are really hard to do solo.

I just ask a nearby woman to zip me up, since many women's dresses require this I figure they can empathize.  If someone is zipping you press your shoulder blades together to make it easier for them. 

It's very common.  If it's easy to zip on your own, there's a chance it may be too big for you.

I generally have the same problem, and last year at a beach I had to go up to a group and ask someone to zip me up.  (2 couples chatting seemed less creepy than walking up to some girl 1/3rd my age and asking her to pull my zipper.)

However, at my HIM I was panicked over other things (see my RR) and running to jump in the water when I somehow managed to get it to zip up.  It really is just getting it to start moving.  After that it is easy.

Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Absolutely.  My limited experience indicates that the womens pros in wetsuits is a situation worthy of a smile regardless.

I have a QR with a breakaway zipper.  If I don't start it before putting it on, I have to get help.    I have asked for, and also helped, countless people with zippers at races.  Maybe try getting it started.  It could be a problem if you're standing on the beach some morning for practice and no one is there to help!

My new Xterra suit is easier to zip up.  But I agree that sometimes it exhausts me to the point my arms are too tired to swim

Its normal.  When I first got my wetsuit I discovered that I couldn't zip it up myself.  One morning I wanted to go do an OWS but wasn't sure there would be anyone at the beach I was going to so got the bright idea that I would put the wetsuit on at home, have my hubby zip it up for me, then drive the 15 minutes to the beach with it on.   Even with the AC blasting I was sweating so bad by the time I got there I ran to the water just to get in and cool down.  And of course there were people at the beach so I looked like a dork getting out of the car in a wetsuit and running to the water.  I also worried all the way there in the car that I would get a flat tire or get pulled over by the police and have to explain why I was dressed in rubber.  

After that day I always brought the suit with me to put on at the beach and asked a stranger to zip me up.

I have a QR suit as well and the break a way zipper can be a pain if it comes undone while putting the suit on.  I start the zipper about an inch and I can zip it up on my own.  I just hold my hands up and wiggle a little.  Once it gets zipped another inch or two its easy.  Had the break a way come undone once though putting it on and that was annoying.  I was by myself trying it out and had to take the suit all the way back off to start the zipper again.

Always find a tri-hottie or tri-stud (whichever you prefer) to zip it for you.