I stay away from neoprene wetsuits whenever I can, mostly because I'm a 'sinker'; the buoyancy change is nice if I just want to float, but it totally messes up the stroke I've developed over the years (most strokes don't work for sinkers: think of rotating your head to inhale during the crawl - and it's still a ways under water — no way to get a ‘pocket’). Also I can't feel what the water is doing around me (first sign I'm not sliding through properly), although that's more an issue I have with caps.

That said, good on you! I've learned a few things about neoprene suits from diving in New England ocean water. If the water is super cold, bring a large thermos of hot water. Pour half down your neck before you get into the water (makes the water creeping in less miserable). The other half is for when you get out.

Speaking of buoyancy, years ago, I got an 'Aqua Lung' insulated reef suit that has some insulation but no neoprene, so no buoyancy issues. For me, good down to about 55° - or holding still in cool water (divers mostly stop and look at stuff, the point is to use less air, so it's way easier to get cold. No idea if those are still made — and, depending on your stroke, wearing anything that covers arms and legs will lose ‘traction’ in the water. (If you swim like me, you use your entire lower arm as a ‘flipper’, ditto lower legs — not just feet and hands. I ‘dolphin’ with my torso as well, but even though I can do a lap underwater with just that, it’s not much thrust compared to the other bits.) So… I don’t use this much for swimming — but it might work for you.

Also, there are two kinds of neoprene suit for the water, depending on whether just the inside or inside and outside are coated with nylon (called nylon one and two, respectively). Nylon two holds up better, but gets a lot colder when you're out of the water (turns into a big evaporative cooler).