By Breelyn Vanleeuwen, PA-C | Founder & CEO of Daily Shade
You know what I did today? I returned darling aesthetically pleasing light blue suits for my three year old twins today. I made a rookie mistake.
I fell into the trap most parents do when picking out the suit which is looking for the cutest one rather than thinking about whether their child can actually be seen underwater. As a PA, I'm going to be blunt with you: that decision matters more than you think.
A child can drown in as little as 20 seconds, about the same amount of time it takes to get up and grab a towel. Drowning is fast, silent, and nothing like what you see in movies. And one factor almost no one is talking about? Swimsuit color.
The science is pretty startling.
A water safety company called ALIVE Solutions tested 14 swimsuits across varying colors, first in a pool, then in a lake and the results may shock you. Most colors virtually disappear or are not identifiable as a struggling child at just 18 inches below the surface. Visibility decreases even further with any water agitation, like in a moderately active pool, water park, or lake with any wave activity.
In both pool environments, dark bottom and light bottom , neon colors (yellows, oranges, and greens) consistently ranked as the most visible.
The biggest losers? White and light blue. In lakes, white appeared to look like a light reflection or clouds on the surface. Dark colors were often dismissed as a pile of leaves, dirt, or a shadow.
Here's why this happens from a physics standpoint: water absorbs light unevenly. Longer wavelengths like reds and oranges fade first. Shorter wavelengths like blue and green penetrate deeper but in the worst way possible: they blend with the water. Fluorescent neon dyes, on the other hand, re-emit light back toward the viewer, which is why they hold their visibility even underwater.
What to buy and what to skip.
The American Lifeguard Association recommends avoiding swimsuits in light blue, white, gray, or green, and instead choosing neon yellow, orange, pink, or bright red. A spokesperson noted that neon pink performed well in pools but not in open water like lakes, where neon orange, yellow, and green held up best across all environments.
A few common myths worth busting:
"White or light-colored suits are safe because they reflect light" actually, these shades often blend in with pool surfaces and sunlight reflections. "Patterns make swimsuits more visible" busy designs blur in moving water. Solid neon colors perform far better. "Darker colors are easier to see" dark colors can vanish below the surface, especially in lakes or deep pools.
Color is one layer. It's not the whole safety plan.
Brightly colored clothes cannot replace active, vigilant supervision. As ALIVE Solutions themselves put it: 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.
Other layers that matter: swim lessons early (kids can start at age 1), pool fencing, self-latching gates, and keeping devices away when children are in or near water.
And while we're on the topic of what your kids wear in the water...
Swimsuit color affects how quickly someone can find your child. Sunscreen affects what happens to their skin every single day they're outside. Both decisions deserve the same level of scrutiny and both are areas where the marketing doesn't always tell the full story.
If you're putting a "mineral" sunscreen on your kids this summer, make sure it actually is one. A TRUE Mineral sunscreen, like Daily Shade Sunscreen. And not a hybrid product. No chemical UV filters hiding in the formula. Your kids deserve the real thing in and out of the water.
Stay safe out there.
Bree, PA-C | Founder, Daily Shade
