Competitive Swimwear

Competitive Swimwear

Racing, Training or Everyday?

Competitive swimwear covers three separate garments that get called the same thing, and the distinction decides what you should be buying.

Racing suits are engineered for one purpose: reducing drag over a short distance. They use bonded panels, compressive fabric and a fit tight enough to be difficult to put on. They are governed by competition rules, they cost accordingly, and they lose their compression after a limited number of wears.

Training suits are what people actually swim in day to day. Chlorine-resistant fabric, a high neck or racerback for shoulder freedom, full seat coverage, and a fit that stays put through a tumble turn. They last, which racing suits are not designed to do.

Everyday swimwear — including most of what we make — is cut for how it looks and feels at a pool or a beach, not for lap counts.

If you are entering timed events, competition swimwear from a specialist is the right purchase and this is not the range for it. If you swim lengths regularly and want something that survives it, keep reading.

What Makes a Suit Survive a Pool

Four features do almost all of the work, and none of them are exclusive to technical brands.

Fabric. Chlorine breaks down elastane, and a suit with a higher polyester content resists it far longer than a nylon-heavy one. This single fact explains why one suit lasts a season of lap swimming and another goes slack in six weeks.

Straps. A racerback or crossback keeps the shoulder free and does not slip when you rotate. A standard strap set has to be tightened to stay put, which is what marks the shoulder.

Coverage that stays. A full seat and a higher leg opening mean nothing needs adjusting at the wall. Anything cut for sunbathing will need pulling back into place every few lengths.

Neckline. Higher is better in the water. A plunging front lets water in and the drag pulls the suit down each time you push off.

Fit is the fifth, and it works the opposite way to everyday swimwear. A training suit should feel tight out of the water, because it relaxes noticeably once it is wet — a suit that feels comfortable dry will be loose after twenty lengths. Sizing down is normal here and it is the most common mistake people bring over from buying beach swimwear.

What to Swim Laps In Here

Our athletic range is the closest thing in this catalogue, cut with the straps and coverage above rather than for lying still. A one piece is the shape to look at, since nothing shifts at the waist.

For outdoor and open water, a rash guard handles sun across the shoulders through a long session, and a high neck style gives the same stability in the water as a training neckline does.

What "Chlorine Resistant" Means on a Label

Nothing standardised, is the honest answer. There is no test to pass and no certification behind the phrase, so any brand is free to print it.

What sits underneath it, where it means something, is a fibre choice. Elastane is the component chlorine attacks, so a chlorine-resistant fabric either cuts the elastane content sharply or swaps it for something like PBT, which holds up where elastane does not.

The cost is how it feels. Those fabrics are firmer, spring back harder and mold to the body less than ordinary swim fabric — closer to sports equipment than to swimwear. Three sessions a week and the trade is clearly worth making. A fortnight by the sea once a year and you are paying for a property you will never use up.

Making Any Suit Last Longer

Rinse it in cold fresh water before the chlorine dries, dry it flat and out of the sun, and rotate two suits rather than wearing one every session. That last habit doubles the life of both, because elastane needs roughly a day to recover its shape. A darker shade also holds its appearance longer under pool chemicals — see the black range.