Swim Team Shirt Ideas for Clubs, Meets and Parents

In this article

Swim meets are long, humid and loud, and swimmers spend most of the day on deck wearing a team shirt over their suit. It gets more hours of wear than almost any other team garment.

Which means comfort and fabric matter here more than in most sports.

Team and club shirts

Club name front, swimmer's surname back. Numbers are not used in swimming, so the surname carries the back on its own and can be printed larger — see custom swim team shirts.

Full roster on the back. Swim squads are large, so keep the type clean and the list alphabetical.

Event specialisation. "Freestyle," "Butterfly," "IM." Swimmers identify strongly with their events — an IM swimmer in particular wants that on a shirt.

Personal best shirts. A swimmer's event and their time. Earned, specific, and worn with real pride.

Championship meet shirts with the meet name, location and year. The classic swimming keepsake.

Relay team shirts. Four names on one design, for the four swimmers in a relay. These get kept.

Qualifying shirts. "Qualified · State 2027."

Parent and family shirts

"[Swimmer]'s Mom" in club colours.

Full roster for the parent section.

Meet travel shirts listing every meet of the season.

"Swim Mom: Eight Hours Of Humidity For Ninety Seconds Of Swimming." The single most accurate shirt in youth sport.

"I Paid For This Pool Deck Seat."

Timer and volunteer shirts. Swim meets run entirely on parent volunteers, and making them identifiable is genuinely useful.

Pool deck jokes

"Chlorine Is My Perfume."

"Eat. Sleep. Swim. Repeat."

"5am Practice Is A Personality."

"My Hair Has Given Up."

"Dropped Time. Still Tired."

"Swimmers Do It In All Four Strokes." For the older squads.

Fabric and comfort on deck

More relevant here than in any other sport:

• Soft cotton over a damp suit is what swimmers actually want. Stiff heavy fabric clings and stays wet.
• Our shirts are pre-shrunk ringspun cotton, which matters because a shirt pulled on and off a wet body six times a day takes a beating.
• Order at least two per swimmer for a championship weekend. The first one will be damp by the second event.
• Mid-tone colours hide pool water better than light ones.

Coach and club shirts

"Coach" in club colours.

Club-wide shirts across every squad level. Swim clubs are large, so this is where per-shirt cost drops properly.

Meet host shirts if your club runs a meet — usually the biggest fundraiser of the year.

Official and timer shirts.

End-of-season banquet shirts with every swimmer's name.

Ordering

No minimum. Fifteen or more gets 25% off — swim squads clear this easily, often several times over. Different names and events on every shirt cost nothing extra. No setup or artwork fees, including the roster. Free design proof. S–5XL at $25, $28 and $30.

Order at the start of the season, and allow extra time before a championship meet.

Related: custom running shirts and custom gym shirts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can every shirt have a different swimmer's name and event?
Yes, at no extra cost, and the order still counts toward the 15-shirt discount.

How many shirts per swimmer for a championship meet?
At least two. The first will be damp by the second event.

What fabric works on a pool deck?
Soft pre-shrunk ringspun cotton. Heavier fabric clings over a wet suit and stays wet all day.

Can we print personal best times?
Yes. A swimmer's event and time is one of the most-worn designs we print for swim clubs.

Can we do relay team shirts?
Yes — all four names on one design, at no extra cost.

What is the minimum order?
None. Fifteen or more gets 25% off.