Child’s Swimsuit Color Could Impact Water Safety in Pool, Experts Reveal

According to experts, the color of a child's swimsuit could affect their safety in a pool.

Some water safety experts have examined how swimwear hue may affect a child's visibility in the water.

swimming pool — (Photo: Pixabay / leoleobobeo)

Child's Swimsuit Color

Bernard Fisher, the director of safety and health from the American Lifeguard Association, says that a child's swimsuit color could affect their visibility within the water, which is important for drowning prevention.

Contrasting and bright swimsuit colors can stand out more vibrantly against water, which makes it easier for parents and lifeguards to spot their children.

Fisher noted that green, gray, or blue swimsuits should be avoided altogether, as these colors could blend with the surroundings and pool water, affecting visibility. They recommended colors like pink, orange, bright red, and yellow, which are highly visible above the surface and underwater.

Wyatt Werneth, a coastal lifeguard based in Florida and a spokesperson for the association, explained that the color of swimsuits is not discussed enough when it comes to public safety.

He explained that lifeguards do not just save people; they also need to look for missing children on the beach. If these children wear bright colors and pictures of them are taken beforehand, this could give lifeguards a picture of who they should look for.

ALSO READ: Science of Drowning: Here's How It Actually Happens and How You Can Stay Safe in the Water

Testing Swimsuit Colors

Alive Solutions, a firm specializing in water safety, has discovered in two experiments that some colors are more visible in open water or swimming pools.

As part of the tests, the company's water safety experts placed differently colored swimsuits in pools and lakes to examine their visibility. These tests were independently conducted and not included in a journal.

Owner and co-founder Natalie Livingston, who has been a lifeguard for over 25 years, explained that they tested 14 different swimsuit colors.

The tests revealed that neon orange and neon pink were the most visible colors in a pool with a light-colored floor. Though darker colors could contrast a light pool's bottom, they were typically dismissed due to leaves, dirt, and shadows.

Light blue and white swimsuits were not very visible, and they also appeared to disappear completely within a pool.

Livingston explained that blues and light colors tended to appear like cloud reflections or glare spots and blend completely with their environment.

For 18-inch lake water, tests revealed that bright neon colors, including green, yellow, and neon orange, had the highest visibility against the bottom of the lake. However, neon pink was observed to not perform well.

Livingston explained that neons generally have visibility in every environment.

Water Safety Issues

Dr. Maneesha Agarwal, an associate pediatrics and emergency medicine professor at Emory University School of Medicine, explains that while it makes sense for swimsuit colors to impact visibility in water, there is no actual evidence that a child wearing neon bathing suits has better outcomes in a drowning event.

Agarwal explained that the aim is not to depend on a child's swimsuit color to find them in the event of drowning, noting that there are different layers of protection when it comes to water safety.

Some important measures include ensuring a child's water competence through swimming lessons, keeping the child supervised in the water, and looking for signs of drowning.