Kids Swimwear Buying Guide: Sizing, Sun Protection and What Lasts
The three things that decide whether kids swimwear is worth buying: size it to this summer rather than next, cover the shoulders and the back of the neck, and check the fabric is quick-dry with a chlorine-resistant lining. Everything else is personal taste.
Sizing: do not buy up
The instinct with kids clothing is to go a size big and get two summers out of it. Swimwear is the exception. Board shorts that are too big slide down in the water and bunch under a rashie, and a loose rashie lets water channel through and defeats the point of it. Swimwear needs to fit now.
Australian kids swimwear is usually sized by age, which is a rough guide at best. Go by the garment measurements rather than the number on the tag, especially between sizes 6 and 10 where kids vary most. Our size guide lists actual measurements for that reason.
One thing you can do: buy the board shorts to fit and the rashie to fit, but check the waistband has a real drawstring rather than just elastic. A drawstring buys you a few months of growing room that elastic does not.
Sun protection: cover the burn spots
Kids burn first on the shoulders, the back of the neck and the tops of the ears. A rashie with a high neck and long sleeves covers two of those three, which is why a long sleeve rashie plus a hat does more than sunscreen reapplied badly every two hours.
Look for a UPF 50+ rating, which is the highest classification available in Australia and blocks a minimum of 98% of UV radiation. Be aware that the rating applies to the fabric, not to the child: it only protects the skin it actually covers, and a rashie stretched too tight over skin performs worse than the label suggests. Fit matters as much as the number.
What makes a pair last
Four things kill kids swimwear, roughly in order:
- Chlorine. It destroys standard elastane. If they swim in pools, look for chlorine-resistant yarn in anything stretchy.
- Not being rinsed. Salt and chlorine left in the fabric keep working on it in the wash basket. A rinse in fresh water after swimming is the single highest-value thing you can do.
- Hot drying. Tumble dryers and hot car windscreens both cook the elastane. Hang them in the shade.
- Concrete. Nothing to be done about this one. Pool decks and bum-sliding are undefeated.
Board shorts or a one-piece swim short?
For boys, board shorts with an inner mesh brief are the standard and the most practical: they dry fast, they have pockets, and they look like regular shorts when they are dry, so there is no changing before the drive home. For toddlers still in swim nappies, a looser short over the top is easier than anything fitted.
What Skwosh makes
Our kids board shorts are 100% recycled polyester with an inner mesh brief, an elasticated drawstring waist and side pockets, in sizes 2 to 14. The kids rashie carries a UPF 50+ rating in an 80% polyester, 20% elastane blend with Lycra Xtra Life, which is the chlorine-resistant yarn, with a high neck and raglan long sleeves.
Most prints are made in both kids and adult sizes, so if you want to turn up to the beach in matching boardies, the Matchy-Matchy collection is where those live. The kids will think it is great for approximately four more years.