The colour of your child's swimsuit could help keep them safe in the pool or at the lake — and prevent drownings. Here's what experts say

Yahoo

26-06-2025

The Canada Day long weekend is almost here, and with school officially over, many families are getting ready to kick off summer break with some outdoor fun. Lots of us might look forward to spending time by the pool, taking a dip in the lake or cooling off by the beach, meaning water safety is always a top-of-mind concern.
Tragic accidents can take seconds to happen — and, oftentimes, can be silent. According to the World Health Organization, around 300,000 people worldwide die each year by drowning, and the majority of those impacted are children. A 2024 report by Ontario's Lifesaving Society indicated 97 per cent of drowning cases for kids under five years old were caused by a lack of supervision or supervisors becoming distracted.
Although fencing off pool areas, wearing life jackets and having supervision are key, the colour of your child's swimsuit can play a role in keeping them safe in the water. A 2021 study by ALIVE Solutions Inc., an organization which focuses on aquatic safety, noted certain colours lose visibility when submerged in different bodies of water. That can make detecting activity and potential drownings harder for parents and lifeguards.
The company put different colours of swimsuits to the test to see how each appears when submerged in dark- and light-bottomed pools. Each suit was photographed first when submerged in water and again to show how the colour appears underwater with surface agitation.
"Our bottom two colours are white and light blue (check out how they disappear) and our top choices would be neon pink and neon orange," ALIVE Solutions wrote in a 2021 Facebook post. "Although the darker colours show up on a light pool bottom, they can often be dismissed for a pile of leaves, dirt or a shadow, so I tend to stay away from those colours when possible."
Results became even more troubling when the same test was conducted in lake water. ALIVE submerged the same colour swimsuits in 18 inches (0.5 metres) of lake water and found that even some of their high-visibility colours in pools, like neon pink, all but disappeared. Neon green, orange and yellow performed well, but blues, greens and black had the lowest visibility.
"Also remember, the bright and contrasting colours help visibility, but it doesn't matter what colours your kids are wearing if you aren't supervising effectively and actively watching," the company added.
In 2023, ALIVE Solution furthered its testing by looking at the impact of both small- and large-print patterns on visibility. The group found neon colours were still ideal, even with large or small patterns, but large, dark patterns impacted visibility.
"Having a background as an aquatic operator and lifeguard, I know that certain colours are easier to see than others and also how challenging water can be to see through," Natalie Livingston, ALIVE Solutions' co-founder, said in a 2020 interview with TODAY. "I started to notice this personally with what my kids wore in different water environments and wanted to test the colours in different conditions so we could increase visibility as much as possible."
While there's no recent national data available, data reveals drowning cases are on the rise in Ontario, with 48 per cent of drowning incidents occurring in lakes or open water.
Separate research indicated equally troubling information for children in Quebec. According to a study by Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons, an average of nearly one child a day goes to the emergency room in Quebec for a drowning or near-drowning related incident in the summer months.
Dr. Hussein Wissanji, a pediatric surgeon at Montreal Children's Hospital, presented his findings last year ahead of summer in an effort to prevent injuries and fatalities that could occur later that season. His research noted a majority of drowning incidents for children under age four occurred in pools that were not properly fenced.
"Having seen some of these families in the emergency department, it is probably one of the worst days of their life when they're coming in the ambulance for their child who just had a near-drowning," Wissanji told the Canadian Press.
Parents should maintain constant, uninterrupted supervision of their children while they're in the water. Moreover, consider having your child wear a suitable personal floatation device and have four-sided enclosures on their pool areas to prevent drowning incidents.