Men’s swimwear to hit the water in

Back in January, I was photographed by my local paper emerging from the icy waters of the men’s pond on London’s Hampstead Heath, where I swim most days. It was the wake-up call I needed: the Lenny Kravitz-style six-pack is a work in progress, but some smarter shorts should be easier to come by. 

The truth is, however, that my hit rate with swimmers has been low. Unlike most items of clothing, you can’t tell how good trunks are until you try them out in the water.

They are also full of details that can be make or break. Think pocket placement, fabric choice, or whether they have tiny holes to let out air so they don’t shoot you to the surface like a life jacket that inflates on contact with water. And size matters. Too big and they’ll threaten to come off every time you dive in. It adds a certain jeopardy that might appeal to some, but is generally frowned upon by other pool users. 

I have a drawer filled with almost-good pairs. One, bought to swim in a hotel pool in New Orleans, billowed around me in the water like a poisonous jellyfish. And the loud flower-print Quicksilver board shorts I acquired in Barbados were more suited to doing tequila shots on a Club 18-30 holiday in 2005 than swimming in the ocean.

For my new swim look I wanted something short that I could swim front crawl in, but I also wanted to feel stylish enough to lounge on the beach or by the pool on holiday.

This year, David Morris, buying manager at Mr Porter, has noticed a shift towards “customers seeking fun, printed swim shorts versus classic, plain styles, which historically have been more popular.”

“Zegna has some great options in a bold stripe pattern,” he continues. “Straight leg and mid-length styles are the key shape, and we’ve also seen an increase in sports-style swim shorts — Mr Porter’s own label Mr P has a great pair [£125, mrporter.com] modelled on ’70s runner styles.”

Following his lead, I was drawn to a new brand called Abtany. Its swimming shorts feature prints inspired by the Persian heritage of founder Sourena Ghaffari, who handpaints them himself. I opted for a pair of navy Kashi swim shorts with a brushstroke pattern based on the blue tiles of the city of Isfahan (£240, abtany.com). They felt wildly exuberant in the murky waters of the Hampstead pond but well suited to a recent trip to Comporta in Portugal, where they were equal to the task of an invigorating plunge in the Atlantic surf followed by a lobster roll at the beach bar. 

“Many people are opting for swim shorts that can pass as more formal wear,” says Ghaffari. “This means they don’t need to change if they decide to go to a nice fish restaurant on the beach, for a glass of rosé. The trend is towards swimwear that is versatile enough to wear in various social settings, not just in the water.”

Equally upmarket and colourful is the French banker and off-duty lawyer favourite Vilebrequin. Ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer, it has produced a range of whimsical, Gallic-inspired prints — the Eiffel Tower, or tricolore athletes (£230, vilebrequin.com). The distinctive wide elasticated waistband fits well and attention to detail is everything you’d hope for from a premium swim short — the cut is tailored and smart, metal eyelets on the back release trapped air, and the rear pocket is held closed with Velcro to stop it filling with water. 

Intriguingly, the brand has also collaborated on a line with The Woolmark Company — the industry body that sets wool standards. Using Australian Merino wool, they’ve created soft, lightweight shorts in simple, understated block colours (£210, vilebrequin.com). 

I’d assumed that woollen swimsuits had gone the way of Victorian wheeled bathing machines. In fact, they performed brilliantly. They’re silky smooth, produce minimal drag in the water and dry well too. Out of the water, they have a quiet luxury aesthetic — although the distinctive Vilebrequin logo on the back waistband does give off a certain “my other car’s a Porsche” vibe. 

A more affordable option is David Gandy Wellwear (£55, davidgandywellwear.com). Available in just three block colours — red, blue and green — and two lengths, these shorts have many of the neat details of more expensive pairs (the eyelets at the back, the contrasting pull cord) and the cut is pleasingly flattering.

For a more utilitarian experience, I tried Finisterre’s Walker Hybrid shorts (£75, finisterre.com), which are designed to be amphibious — a comfortable hiking short that you can leap into the water in at a moment’s notice and that will dry quickly so you don’t chafe on the walk home. I found them comfortable enough to spend the day in during a trip to South Devon, walking the coastal paths and swimming in the sandy coves.

The trend is towards swimwear that is versatile enough to wear in various social settings, not just in the water

But looming over my adventures in swimwear, like the gathering storm clouds in John Cheever’s classic story “The Swimmer”, was the small matter of the swimming briefs — an item of clothing I’ve not worn since school. The thought of slipping on a pair of “budgie smugglers” doesn’t appeal. But in the interests of thorough research, I kept an open mind, hoping I’d look more like Burt Lancaster in the 1968 film adaptation of Cheever’s story than Ray Winstone in Sexy Beast.

According to Anders Krygell, co-founder of Danish swimwear brand Pond, about 10 per cent of fellow swimmers in Copenhagen now sport briefs. Krygell, who used to be a professional swimmer, and three friends who all love bathing in the city’s harbours, launched their swimwear brand in 2021.

Put off by all the cold, damp, flapping material of ordinary swim shorts when moving from sauna to sea and back again, they designed their perfect briefs with a 1970s aesthetic — wide on the hips, with a loop to hang them from to dry and a pull cord to keep them securely fastened. Too skimpy? The brand also does a square-cut brief (closer to the Brazilian sunga style), the Pond 2 (£75, pondcph.com), which offers a little more coverage. 

For those not yet ready to embrace what The Bear actor and avid Speedo-wearing swimmer Ebon Moss-Bachrach called a “banana hammock-y silhouette” in a recent interview with GQ, Pond has also created a clever pair of short shorts (£109, pondcph.com) with a detachable liner so that they can work as running shorts or swimmers or — with the mesh inner removed — go over your briefs en route to your dip.

All things considered, it was Frescobol Carioca’s new, lightweight Salvador shorts that I reached for most mornings as I headed for my morning swim (£125, frescobolcarioca.com). They’re slim-fitting, short with a hint of athleticism but not skimpy, fast-drying and chic enough to make a splash at a resort or hotel as well as my local lido on a sunny Saturday.

Now, about that six-pack . . .