Custom Swimwear & Team Kit Manufacturer for Swimming Clubs

Which garments a swimming club orders, and why

A swimming club orders two kinds of kit from ZipaSports: the suits swimmers race and train in, and the deck wear that identifies the squad at a gala, keeps swimmers warm between events and travels with them. The first group is sublimated stretch swimwear; the second is mostly fleece, towelling and shell fabric with an embroidered or printed club crest. Both come from one factory in Sialkot, Pakistan, on one order.

The full catalogue is at swimming and water sports teamwear.

Pool water and fabric: what club swimsuits are made from

Club training and squad suits are made from 4-way stretch polyester-spandex, chosen over nylon-spandex for two reasons that matter in a chlorinated pool. First, polyester fibre holds up to chlorine far longer than nylon, which loses its stretch and goes thin in daily training use. Second, sublimation dye bonds to polyester and not to nylon, so a fully printed club suit with a crest, sponsor and squad colour has to be a polyester-based fabric. Our polyester-spandex swim fabrics sit in the same 180–220 GSM range as the rash-guard fabric described on polyester-spandex, with elastane content in the 12–20% band, and are lined at the front and gusset.

Water polo suits use the same fabric family in a heavier, more opaque construction with reinforced stitching at the straps and seams, because the suit is grabbed. Rash vests and long-sleeve rash vests for open-water and surf lifesaving sections are polyester-spandex or nylon-spandex at 180–220 GSM with flatlock seams, and trisuits use polyester-spandex with a thin tri-specific pad.

Deck wear uses cotton-polyester fleece at 280–350 GSM for hoodies and parka linings, performance polyester fleece at 240–300 GSM for warm-up jackets, and 600D polyester or 420D nylon for gear bags. Poncho towels and swim towels are cotton or microfibre towelling. GRS-certified recycled polyester is available on request for suits and deck wear.

Sublimated suits, embroidered deck wear

Squad suits are decorated by full-garment sublimation, the only method that survives daily immersion in chlorinated water without cracking or lifting, because the dye becomes part of the polyester fibre. The club crest, squad name, sponsor and any colour blocking are printed into the panels before the suit is cut, so a suit with a large printed crest on the hip and a sponsor across the back is printed in the same single pass as a plain colour suit. Swim caps are printed with the crest by heat transfer or sublimation depending on the cap material.

Deck wear is decorated the way a club would expect: embroidered crest on the parka, warm-up jacket and hoodie, and a printed or embroidered swimmer name on the chest or hood. Poolside tracksuits can be fully sublimated where the club wants an all-over squad design, or plain fleece with embroidery where the committee wants a garment that doubles as school-run wear. Poncho towels take an embroidered crest and, on request, an embroidered name on the hood.

Tackle twill lettering, common on North American swim parkas, gives a raised club name across the back. All of these methods run in-house at ZipaSports and the choice per garment is agreed on the mockup; the comparison is on sublimation vs DTF vs embroidery.

Squad names, gala sponsors and colour rules in general terms

Swimmer names on club kit usually go on deck wear: an embroidered name on the parka chest, a printed name on the hoodie back or poncho hood. On suits, clubs more often print the squad name or club initials, though a swimmer's name on a jammer hip is possible in sublimation as part of the same printed file. Names are sent as a list, one line per swimmer, alongside the size list; see names, numbers and sponsor logos.

Sponsors go on the parka or warm-up jacket back, the hoodie sleeve and, in sublimation, on the suit itself; send vector files (AI, EPS or PDF) and Pantone references.

On colours, the general rules for a swimming club are set by identification rather than by home and away: a squad wears one club colour at galas so officials and coaches can pick swimmers out on the blocks, and water polo teams need their cap colours and suit colours to contrast clearly with the opposition. One rule the committee must check itself: governing bodies restrict which suits may be worn in sanctioned competition at certain levels, so club-printed suits are ordered for training, club galas, water polo, open water and triathlon, and the committee confirms with its federation what may be raced in at approved meets.

Ordering a squad: mixed sizes from age-group to masters

The minimum order is 20–25 pieces per design, lower on request, and every size of that design counts towards it. A club's jammer order can contain junior sizes for the age-group squad, adult sizes for seniors and larger sizes for the masters section, all in one run. Girls' and women's one-piece suits are a separate design from jammers, so a mixed club normally orders two suit designs and meets the minimum on each. Adult sizes run XS–5XL, women's XS–4XL, and junior sizes are graded from the same print file.

Swimwear sizing is where clubs most often go wrong, because a racing suit is worn tighter than a training suit. We recommend a size set before bulk: physical samples take 5–7 days at sample cost, credited against the bulk order, and a size set tried on at a training session removes most of the guesswork. Wrong sizes chosen by the swimmer are not covered by the guarantee, whereas a suit made outside the approved size specification is.

Deck wear is simpler: hoodies, parkas and tracksuits are ordered against chest measurement, and a parka is cut oversized to go over a wet suit. Youth grading follows an age-to-chest chart sent with the mockup; the size chart guide explains how to read it.

Planning the order around the gala calendar

Swimming clubs have two natural ordering points: the autumn short-course season and the spring long-course season, with a top-up for January joiners. The table works backwards from a target gala using the standard lead times: free mockup within 24 hours, sample in 5–7 days, bulk 15–25 business days after approval and 5–10 days by DHL, FedEx or UPS. Express production of 7–12 days at additional cost shortens the middle leg only.

A club that briefs in late June has kit for a September short-course opener; a club that briefs in January has it for the spring long-course meets. Australian and New Zealand clubs run the reverse calendar, and the lead times are the same.

What the club secretary sends us

Most swimming club orders are placed by a volunteer kit secretary who has never sent artwork to a factory, so the list below is deliberately short. WhatsApp or email both work, we reply within 2 hours in business hours on WhatsApp and within 24 hours by email, and our studio redraws any crest that only exists as a photo on the club website.

Payment terms and the full quotation are confirmed with your enquiry. No prices are published because a suit order and a parka order are built differently; the quote reflects the actual garments, quantities and decoration.

Water polo, triathlon and open-water sections in the same order

Many swimming clubs run a water polo section, a masters triathlon group or an open-water squad, and each can be added to the club order in the same colours without a separate minimum negotiation, provided each garment design reaches 20–25 pieces or is agreed as a lower run on request. Water polo suits are ordered in a reinforced, more opaque construction, in two colourways where the section wants a contrast suit for home and visiting fixtures, with numbered caps ordered alongside.

Triathlon trisuits use polyester-spandex with a tri pad, sublimated in club colours with sponsor panels on the chest and thigh, in men's and women's blocks. Open-water swim skins and long-sleeve rash vests are cut close, with flatlock seams to avoid chafe over distance, and swim caps in a high-visibility club colour are ordered with them so safety crews can identify the group.

Surf lifesaving and paddle sections order paddle splash tops and rash guards from the same fabric, and shorty wetsuit tops and neoprene tops are available for cold-water groups. Every one of these garments is designed by the same studio from the same crest and Pantone file, so the club looks like one club poolside, at the lake and at the triathlon transition. The team kit buying guide for clubs covers how multi-section clubs group their orders.

Reorders across seasons, shipping and the Quality Guarantee

Swimwear wears out faster than any other team garment because it lives in chlorine, so a club typically reorders suits every season and deck wear every two or three. ZipaSports keeps the approved print files, Pantone references, crest digitising and size specifications on record, and reorders for an established club, including small runs below the 20–25 piece minimum for new joiners, are handled on request. Colour match between runs is within normal dye-lot tolerance.

Orders ship from Sialkot by DHL, FedEx or UPS in 5–10 days to the UK, Ireland, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia, with commercial invoice, packing list and certificate of origin supplied. Import VAT and duty are the importing club's responsibility on arrival unless otherwise agreed; the UK, EuropeIrelandNew ZealandUAESaudi Arabia, USA, Canada and Australia pages explain the border process for each market.

Quality Guarantee: if any garment arrives with a manufacturing defect, we remake it free of charge; the remake goes into production within 3 days of your report. A print fault, an open seam, a suit outside the approved size specification or a wrong quantity all qualify; report it with photos and the order reference within 7 days of delivery and the affected pieces are remade and shipped at no charge, or credited if the club prefers. Details are on the quality guarantee page.