11 Brands Like Jolyn for Swimwear That Stays Put
You push off the wall, take four strokes, and the strap slides off your shoulder again. Most swimwear is designed for a towel. Jolyn designs for a two-hour practice, which is why its tie-back tops and fixed-back one-pieces end up in water polo bags and swim team kit lists. Prices run from $7 for a silicone cap to $86 for a printed one-piece (USD).
Here are 11 brands working to the same brief. We cut the resort labels that used to pad this list, because a bikini built for a deck chair falls off in a scrum.
What is a training swimsuit? A training swimsuit is cut with a fixed, tie or racer back so it holds position through repeated laps and contact, and it's made in a fabric sold on chlorine resistance. TYR markets its Durafast Elite training fabric as "chlorineproof". That's the line between the brands below and a resort bikini.
Quick comparison:
- Closest match to Jolyn: Sporti, Dolfin, Splish
- Cheapest: Sporti, from $21.50 USD
- The racing houses: Speedo, TYR, Arena, Funkita
- Most premium: Left On Friday, $200 to $220 USD
- Surf and open water: Billabong, Roxy
- Design-led training swim: Nike Swim
| Brand | Price range | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sporti | $21.50 to $54 USD | Cheapest training one-pieces, sizes 22 to 44 |
| Dolfin | $29.99 to $52.99 USD | Water polo and loud training prints |
| Splish | $39.95 to $74.95 USD | Custom prints for a whole team |
| Speedo | $50 to $98 USD | The default swim team suit |
| TYR | $34.99 to $99 USD | Durafast Elite fabric that survives chlorine |
| Arena | Prices in USD, range not verified | Racing suits and training separates |
| Funkita | AUD pricing | Bright Australian training swim |
| Nike Swim | $44 to $114 USD | Fastback one-pieces with a design point of view |
| Left On Friday | $200 to $220 USD | Swim you'd wear off the pool deck |
| Billabong | From $39.95 USD | Surf swim that handles waves |
| Roxy | $42 to $114 USD | Athletic bikini tops for surf lessons |
Sporti
Sporti makes the cheapest serious training swimsuit we found, and it's the closest thing to a like-for-like Jolyn swap on price. Its women's competition and training one-pieces run $35 to $44.50 (USD), and the wider competition and training range starts at $21.50 once you count girls' sizing.
The Solid Thin Strap One Piece ($35 USD) comes in sizes 22 to 44, which is a wider spread than most fashion swim brands attempt. The Piped Splice Wide Strap One Piece ($38.50 USD) sits in the middle, and the Catalyst Thin Strap One Piece ($44.50 USD) tops the line.
The trade-off against Jolyn is print. Sporti's range is built on solids and simple splices, so if what you love about Jolyn is the artwork, this isn't the swap. If what you love is a back that stays where you put it, Sporti does that for less.
Best for: buying three suits for the price of one, so you can rotate them and slow the chlorine damage.
Dolfin
Dolfin owns the loud end of training swim through its Uglies line, where suits run $29.99 to $52.99 (USD) in prints that are meant to be seen from the bleachers. Diamond backs, X-backs, keyholes and thin straps all appear in the same collection.
Dolfin also runs a dedicated water polo range for women and men, which puts it on exactly the same ground Jolyn built its name on. Technical racing suits and the Aquashape fitness line sit alongside it.
Best for: a swimmer who wants the Jolyn print energy at a lower price and needs polo-specific cuts.
Splish
Splish prints custom training suits, which is the one thing on this list Jolyn doesn't do. Suits run $39.95 to $74.95 (USD) across thin strap, super thin strap, racerback and bikini cuts, plus men's briefs and jammers.
The catalogue is built around customisation. Most of the product types on the site carry the word "custom" in front of them, so a squad can put its own artwork on a full order rather than picking from a seasonal print run. Splish also stocks silicone and latex caps, towels and equipment bags, which covers the rest of a team order.
Where Jolyn sells you its prints, Splish sells you the blank. That's the whole difference, and it decides which of the two you want.
Best for: team managers ordering 30 suits that need to match.
Speedo
Speedo is the default swim team suit, and its US store prices women's swimsuits mostly between $50 and $98 (USD). The Jetstream Solid Bound Scoop One Piece runs $72 (USD), and Endurance+ Swim Leggings come in at $40 (USD) for anyone who wants leg coverage in the water.
At the top end sit the Fastskin LZR Pure Intent 2.0 kneeskins, the suits you buy for a championship meet rather than a Tuesday session. Speedo also stocks caps, goggles, kickboards and fins, so a whole kit bag comes from one order.
One warning worth having. Use the US store path if you want dollars, because the plain speedo.com address served us a cart priced in GBP.
Best for: replacing a worn practice suit without thinking about it.
TYR
TYR builds its training range around Durafast Elite, which TYR's own product page describes as combining "chlorineproof durability, flexible compression, and UPF50+ comfort". Women's Durafast Elite suits run from $34.99 for a mini bikini bottom to $99 for a DiamondFit ControlFit one-piece (USD), with the Trinityfit at $79 (USD).
TYR's catalogue reaches well past suits into goggles, trainers and Hurricane wetsuits for open water, which is useful if you're moving from pool sets into a triathlon.
Best for: a swimmer whose suits go see-through by March and wants a fabric that doesn't.
Arena
Arena is a competition swimwear house, and its US store splits the women's range by what you're doing rather than by silhouette. There's a training swim category and a separate racing swim one, plus dedicated racing suits under the swimwear menu.
That structure is useful when you're buying for two different jobs. A training suit takes daily abuse and a racing suit gets worn a handful of times a season, and Arena keeps them in separate aisles rather than making you guess from a product photo.
We couldn't read live prices off Arena's US pages, so we're not quoting a range we can't stand behind. The store does price in USD, confirmed in its own structured data.
Best for: a swimmer who wants a racing suit and a training suit from the same house.
Funkita
Funkita is the Australian answer to Jolyn's print-forward training swim. Its performance range splits into Elite Level and Entry Level suits, then keeps going into swimming caps, training goggles, kickboards and training aids.
Prices show in AUD by default, and the site offers a switch to a United States store. We're quoting no dollar figure here because the default currency is Australian, and converting it would give you a number that changes by the week. Check the store switcher before you read a price tag.
Funky Trunks covers the men's side, and its site advertises "two brands, one checkout" with Funkita, so a mixed squad can order in one go. The print catalogue is the draw, with named collections running to Fur Seal and Garden Glow.
Best for: prints that make Dolfin's Uglies look restrained.
Nike Swim
Nike Swim prices women's swimsuits from $44 to $114 (USD), and the range leans on HydraStrong fabric and Fastback cuts with wide straps and flat seams. The HydraStrong Essential Women's Fastback One Piece is the anchor of that line.
The design language separates it from the pure racing houses. Nike treats a training suit as sportswear rather than equipment, which is closer to how Jolyn approaches a tie-back top.
The catch is the storefront. Nike's swim listings sit inside a site built for shoes, so filtering down to a competition-suitable back takes more clicks than it does on Sporti or Dolfin, where that's the whole catalogue.
Best for: a swimmer who wants pool-ready construction and a suit that reads as sportswear.
Left On Friday
Left On Friday describes itself as premium active swimwear, and its one-pieces run $200 to $220 (USD), which makes it by far the most expensive brand here. The Sunday Suit sits at $200 and the Rays Suit at $220 (USD).
The construction argument is compression and coverage that holds through movement, so the suits work for a swim and then keep working at a barbecue afterwards. Tops, bottoms, shorts and playsuits fill out the range beyond one-pieces.
Best for: one suit that handles a lake swim and a lunch, instead of two.
Billabong
Billabong comes at water from the surf side, and its women's swim starts at $39.95 (USD) with a median around $59.95. The Sol Searcher Bondi bikini bottoms sit at the entry price, and reversible tie-side styles fill the middle of the range.
Surf swim solves a related problem to team swim. A suit has to survive being knocked around by a wave, which means tighter cuts and stronger seams than a poolside bikini needs. We compare the two big surf labels head to head in surf brands like Billabong.
Set expectations, though. Billabong's women's swim is bikini-led, and a tie-side bottom holds up to a wave far better than it holds up to a tumble turn. This isn't the brand for a lane session.
Best for: ocean days where the swimwear takes a beating.
Roxy
Roxy runs an athletic bikini top category, which is the detail that earns it a place here. Those tops run $42 to $48 (USD), including the SD Beach Classics Athletic Triangle Top at $42, and the one-piece range sits at $100 to $114 (USD).
Roxy's copy for that top reads "built for beach training and mellow waves", with a criss-cross back and removable cups in recycled nylon. The brand rates it low support, so it's a surf-lesson top rather than a lap-swimming one. We set Roxy against its closest rival in brands like Roxy and Billabong.
Best for: surf lessons and beach training where a fashion triangle would come undone.
How to Pick a Suit That Holds
Start with what the suit has to survive. If it's chlorine four times a week, buy on fabric and buy cheap enough to own three, which points at Sporti, Dolfin or Splish. If it's a championship meet, the racing lines at Speedo, TYR and Arena are the ones built for it.
Surf changes the question to whether the suit stays on when a wave hits it, and that's where Roxy's athletic tops and Billabong's surf swim earn their keep. Left On Friday is the one to look at if you want a single suit to cover a swim and everything after.
Prices above are the currency each store quoted us, and swimwear discounts hard out of season, so what you see may sit below these numbers. More brand comparisons are in our article library.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
