Trans Man Swimwear

If you’re a trans man, you’ve imagined it. Sun on your skin. The breeze hitting your chest. You walk out of the water, and you feel like an utter hunk, water glistening on your muscles...you get the picture.

Unfortunately, for many of us, that hasn’t exactly been the experience. We’ve searched ‘trans swimwear ftm’ or ‘swimwear for trans guys’ only to come up with boring pride merch that usually doesn't fit very well and is poor quality.

In this essay, we are going to do two things. First, we are going to describe all of the elements that go into the perfect bathing suit for transmen, and then we are going to point you to exactly where you can get it!

So first off...

What is trans friendly swimwear?

Trans friendly swimwear could mean a bunch of things. It could mean swimwear made in pink and blue, to represent the trans pride flag. Or, it could do something much, much better. It could describe swimwear that was made with trans men's needs in mind. It could take into accounts things like:

1. Binding bathing suits, or how to feel comfortable with your chest while swimming.
   
   
2. Packing and packing pouches. How to pack while swimming in a way that is comfortable and makes your gender expression something that is joyful and gender affirming.
   
   
3. Comfort around the hips. A lot of trans men have dysphoria around the hips. That means you should avoid tight or unforgiving elastane waistbands.

What are the most important components in swim shorts for trans masc folks?

If we had to boil down the three non-negotiable elements that make for the idea trans man swim trunks, they are these:

1. A stretchy, forgiving fabric. Most board shorts are made in non-stretch quick dry material that is super uncomfortable. The dimensions of these shorts don’t work well for our proportions, so they tend to bunch and chafe around the bum and thighs.
   
   
2. A too-tight waistband. Unfortunately, many of the queer swim suits on the market have a thick, strong elastic waistband. (This is often to help keep the shorts up when packing, more on this in the next point). But that means that it creates a muffin top situation around the hips, which is usually the area we are quite dysphoric about in the first place.
   
   
3. The option to pack. Not all trans men like to pack while swimming, but some do. Having an in built packing pouch on the inside of your trunks makes life way easier. (Bonus points if you can add in a swim friendly, lightweight, subtle packer).
   
   

What are the most important components for a trans man swim shirt or tank?

Again, here are our top three features we’ve compiled from years of interviewing and working directly with the transmasc community on what the ideal swimwear would look like:

1. Has to cover any form of binding, taping, or sport bra underneath well.
2. Something that doesn’t have too much drag in the water, but also isn’t form fitting.
3. No bunching around the hips.

So, let’s put that all together into...

The ideal swimsuit for trans FTM folks

Swimset from Both& Apparel

Wear the swim trunks by themselves or pair with the tank. Also available is the add-on of a swim friendly packer.

Here’s what we love about this suit:

1. It hits all of the must-have needs for trans men.
   
   
2. It is comfortable, and high quality. And
   
   
3. It actually looks stylish.

Because let’s be real. Transgender swimwear/nonbinary swimsuits/gender neutral swimwear—whatever you call it—isn’t always the most stylish. And the fact of the matter is that we are stylish folks, and we deserve cool, empowering swimwear to match that.

If you’d like to read more about gender neutral swimwear, we recommend this article. If you want to do a deep dive on packing while swimming, this is a great resource!