Wetsuit drama.

[fjpatrum]

Litres of water entering at the neck means the seal was worn out, damaged or simply didn't fit you.
You shouldn't be bruised by suit compression either - a little is normal but adding air on decent should alleviate any excessive suit compression. I don't know if the neck seal issue had anything to do with that.

For the record, if you don't put the neck seal on properly, whether it fits or not, whether it is damaged/worn out or not, you can also have leaking. Probably not catastrophic but certainly enough to feel wet and cold. I've found when that happens (operator error) that I can add air and recover some of the warmth.

I also found on my first couple of dives I couldn't tell I was getting squeezed until I was already uncomfortable. It completely believable to me that a new dry diver who bruises easily could conceivably do this to themselves due to squeeze. (I actually had enough squeeze on my suit at 40 feet on my first dive that I was uncomfortable still 10 minutes after the dive finished.) A little puff of air and all is right again.

 

[TSandM]

I'm not getting a warm fuzzy feeling about your dive shop. Some of these things just shouldn't happen. That said, when I dove a dry suit in the pool during my OW class, it leaked like a sieve. They told me, "You always get a bunch of water in the suit in the pool, because you're doing all these maneuvers." I dove the same suit in OW and almost ended up in the hospital from hypothermia. Properly fitted seals are just a requirement when a shop is providing a rental suit, and no one should minimize the problem if the suit is leaking badly.

Welts tell me you weren't putting air in the suit, or at least not putting in enough. Someone should have spotted that and helped you. The fact that you felt rushed and that everyone was impatient with you isn't a good thing, either.

But anyway, my husband swears by the 1/2 strength conditioner thing for donning a suit when you are hot. I almost never dive wet, so I'm no help at all . . .

 

[kimbalabala]

I had similar problems with my 8/7. I put holes through plastic bags AND panty hose!! I ended up using almost full-strength creme rinse and I got through it. I have only used the suit twice - and this issue is part of "why" - the other is that cold, dark water isn't much fun for me.