The Color Of Your Child’s Swimsuit May Be More Important Than You Realize.
Suzy Balderston Jun 03, 2021
The color of your child’s swimsuit may be more important than you realize.
A recent study indicates that brighter, neon swimsuits are the most easily visible when submerged below the surface of pools or open water.
Alive Solutions, Inc., a consulting and education firm focusing on aquatic safety, conducted a series of tests with over a dozen swimsuit colors to come to their results.
In one of the first tests, 14 different suits in various colors were submerged in a pool with a light-colored (white) bottom, both with and without surface agitation of the water. The most visible swimsuits, as observed by Alive Solutions, were those in neon pink and neon orange. Swimsuits in white and light blue were deemed to be the least visible, as they “disappear” underwater. Darker colors, too, were a poor choice as they may “often be dismissed for a pile of leaves, dirt, or a shadow” on the pool’s bottom,
Another test was conducted in a dark-bottomed pool, with similar results: neon green, yellow, and orange were determined to be the most visible. Darker colors like black, gray, and dark green looked even darker under the surface, and the white swimsuit appeared blue enough that it blended too much with the water.
In all three tests, Alive Solutions concurred that “bright and contrasting” colors were the best options for increasing visibility. But the group warned that it takes more than the right swimsuit to keep a child safe.
“Also remember … the bright and contrasting colors help visibility, but it doesn’t matter what color your kids are wearing if you aren’t supervising effectively and actively watching,”
