On August 29th 2024, Swiss media reported a mishap that happened in a pool in a Geneva community of Lancy, where a woman was reprimanded by an employee for swimming in a burkini —  a swimsuit usually worn by Muslim girls and women that covers most of the body, leaving only the hands, feet, and face exposed.

That’a because in 2017, Geneva banned swimmers in public pools from wearing the garment. The law states that swimmers must wear a one-piece or two-piece swimsuit which comes down no lower than knee level, keeps arms bare and is not a “swim skirt or dress.”

The rule was implemented for hygiene reasons and not as a fashion statement, since a number of people were caught swimming in street clothes.

Geneva amended this rule in 2023, authorising burkinis, but individual municipalities within the canton, including Lancy where the incident happened, still ban them.

According to Myriam Halimi, spokesperson for the City of Lancy, “all covering clothing is indeed prohibited. The reasons for this ban are hygienic, ecological and safety. Like a triathlon suit or shorts that are too long, the use of burkinis can harm the quality of the water. Covering clothing that would also be used for example in lakes can bring microparticles of algae that require more frequent cleaning of filters and the use of more chemicals to renew fresh water that meets the water quality criteria. In the same way as taking a shower, wearing suitable clothing optimises the renewal of water and thus minimises its consumption.”

What about elsewhere in the country?

No ‘uniform’ dress code (no pun intended) exists throughout Switzerland, as it is up to individual municipalities to regulate the use of their pools.

Basel does have a similar rule to Geneva: the swimming facility in Balsthal still dictates that swimmers must wear a one-piece or two-piece swimsuit which comes down no lower than knee level.

In Zurich’s public pools, however, bukini is part of the authorised “proper swimwear.”

So what can you wear (and not) in public pools in Switzerland?

For specific clothing rules, you need to go on the website of your municipal swimming pool to see what is allowed and what isn’t.

Generally speaking, and based on rules in place in Geneva, Basel, and Zurich, you can wear standard swimming attire — one or two-piece bathing suits for women, and trunks not covering or falling below the knees for men. Baggy short type swimming trunks may not be allowed.

There is no specific mention of the speedo-type tight trunks for men, which show off more than they cover, but since they are not expressly forbidden, it’s okay to wear them.

Anything other than this ‘approved’ clothing — including burkinis in some places — as well as anything you would wear out in the street, is not allowed.

Some pools may oblige you to wear a swimming cap as public pools do in France.

Last but not least: what about swimming topless (for women?)

Here too, it is up to individual communes to decide, but it is permitted in Geneva as well as Zurich, along with cities like Lausanne.

In fact,  in Zurich this had become a political issue in 2023, when women demanded that the regulations be implemented in a gender-neutral manner.

In other words, if men are allowed to swim without a top, women should be too — “everyone should decide for themselves whether and how they cover their chest area in the swimming pool,” the resulting municipal regulation stated. 

What you are definitely not allowed to do in any public pool in Switzerland, is to swim totally naked.

But here too it is a matter of hygiene rather than anything else, because public nudity as such is not illegal in Switzerland.

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