Swim Shorts vs Swim Trunks vs Jammers: What's the Difference?

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Swim shorts, swim trunks and jammers all sit in the same drawer, but they're not interchangeable. Our Swim Shorts give you a relaxed, easy fit for holidays and family pool days, so you can focus on the fun rather than fiddling with your kit. Our Jammers are built for proper swimming, with discreet incontinence protection built right in. Trunks sit somewhere between the two, though it's not a style we stock ourselves. We make shorts and jammers for children too, so nobody in the family gets left out. If you're weighing up swim shorts vs swim trunks vs jammers for the first time, the short answer is that it comes down to how you actually plan to swim.

Swim trunks aren't something we stock, so we can't offer a fair, verified comparison against our own products here. Instead, here's how our own swim shorts and jammers compare, with the children's equivalents alongside.  

And here's how the children's styles stack up against each other:  

Side by side, the pattern is clear: reach for swim shorts when comfort and ease matter most, and reach for jammers when fit, performance or incontinence protection are the priority.  

Which one you reach for comes down to what you're actually doing in the water, whether that's you or your child.  

The same thinking goes into what we make for children. Our Kids Jammers and Kids Splash Shorts are made from the same soft neoprene and look just like ordinary swimwear, so your child can jump in with their friends without a second thought. Sizes run from 2 to 10 years, depending on the style, and plenty of swim schools recommend or require this kind of swimming jammers for children who aren't yet fully toilet trained. It's one less thing to worry about on a day that should just be fun.

One thing worth remembering: UPF fabric only protects the skin it covers. Apply sun cream to any skin left exposed, even on a grey day.

Have a browse through our full Men's Swimwear range and find the style that suits how you swim.

It matters more than you'd think. Baggy shorts billow if you try to swim lengths in them, and a fitted jammer feels like overkill for a relaxed splash with the kids. There's a quieter reason fit matters too: if you or your child are managing faecal incontinence, swimwear that offers real protection without looking any different from everyone else's can change how you feel about getting in the pool at all. That's exactly why we designed the Splash Jammer, and the kids' version, the way we did. Whether you're after mens swimming shorts for a holiday or swim jammers for extra reassurance, getting the fit right means you'll spend less time thinking about your swimwear and more time enjoying the water.

There's no single right answer here, only the right answer for how you and your family actually swim. A week by the pool calls for something different to a regular swim class, and a child who's still building confidence in the water needs something different again. Take a moment to think about where you'll actually be wearing it, and the choice tends to make itself.

Ready to find yours? Shop the full Men's Swimwear range and pick the style that fits how you swim.