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The wetsuit you want to use for swimming is different from wetsuits that you would use for surfing, scuba, or windsurfing. The main difference between a triathlon or swimming wetsuit and a wetsuit you would use for surfing or other sports is how they interact with the water around them. The purpose of a non-swimming wetsuit is generally warmth and protection. Because of this, they are designed something like a heavy, flexible sponge. These wetsuits hold water close to your skin and allow your body heat to warm the water, and then retain that warmed water. If you try to swim in this, it is literally like swimming with your clothes on—heavy and slow.
A swimming wetsuit is a neoprene-rubber blend composed differently by each company—this is usually a proprietary blend that each company has designed in order to meet the requirements of certain levels of triathletes. The neoprene/rubber is coated with a special, slick material that is “hydrophobic” which means “water-fearing”. In other words, the exterior of these wetsuits repels water and thus should move through the water faster. These neoprene blend materials are cut into sections that fit each different part of your body very tightly. These different sections are different thicknesses of material that therefore provide different amounts of buoyancy. For example, most entry-level triathlon wetsuits have 3 mm of material around the legs and 1.5 to 2 mm around the chest/arms. This is designed to bring swimmers to the surface into a more appropriate position in the water by buoying the legs.
Source: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/cms/article-detail.asp?articleid=1952
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