Buoyancy shorts are one of the most effective training tools for swimmers and triathletes looking to improve their technique, body position and overall swimming efficiency.
Designed to lift the hips and legs, buoyancy shorts help you achieve a flatter, more streamlined position in the water. With reduced drag and better alignment, every stroke becomes more effective, allowing you to swim faster while using less energy.
Whether you’re training for your next triathlon, refining your freestyle technique or simply looking to become a more efficient swimmer, buoyancy shorts are an essential addition to your swim kit.
One of the biggest causes of lost speed in swimming is poor body position. When your hips and legs sink, drag increases dramatically, forcing every stroke to work harder.
Buoyancy shorts provide targeted lift around the hips and upper legs, helping you maintain an optimal swimming position without changing your natural stroke.
The result is a smoother, more efficient swim that allows you to focus on technique rather than fighting to stay high in the water.
Training with buoyancy shorts helps you:
Many swimmers rely on a pull buoy to improve body position, but it comes with one major limitation—it immobilises your legs.
Buoyancy shorts offer the same lifting effect while allowing you to continue kicking naturally. Your hips stay high, your body rotates correctly, and your stroke remains balanced throughout the entire swim.
This makes buoyancy shorts a far more realistic training tool, helping you develop movement patterns that transfer directly to open water and race day.
For swimmers and triathletes, they’re one of the closest ways to recreate wetsuit swimming without wearing a wetsuit.
Originally invented by Zone3 in 2007, buoyancy shorts were created to bring the benefits of wetsuit body position into everyday swim training.
Perfect for:
By consistently training in the same streamlined position you’ll use in competition, you build stronger muscle memory and greater confidence for race day.
Zone3 offers three buoyancy levels to suit every swimmer, from beginners improving technique to experienced triathletes chasing performance.
An accessible introduction to buoyancy shorts and an excellent progression from a traditional pull buoy. Ideal for improving body position while maintaining a natural swimming stroke.
The buoyancy shorts that started it all.
Constructed from premium Yamamoto Smoothskin neoprene using the same stitching and bonding techniques as high-performance triathlon wetsuits, they feature a 3mm centre panel for balanced lift and 5mm side panels that support natural body rotation.
Our most advanced buoyancy shorts, engineered for swimmers who demand maximum comfort, exceptional freedom of movement and the closest possible wetsuit feel during training.
Orca also developed a buoyancy short which provides a high level of buoyancy due to the Aerodome Panel
Buoyancy shorts are more than just a flotation aid—they’re a performance training tool.
By reinforcing the correct body position every session, they help you improve your technique, increase swimming efficiency and carry those gains into race day.
Whether you’re preparing for your first triathlon or chasing a personal best, buoyancy shorts help you train smarter, swim flatter and perform at your best.
Better body position. Better technique. Better swimming.
