Mr Ayre said he had seen so many near-accidents in Roys Bay this year, he wants swimmers to start thinking like cyclists and buy bright pink, yellow or green rather than the "seal-coloured" wetsuits.
"They used to make old-fashioned ones that were bright red. They were really revolting. But that's what manufacturers should be doing. They sponsor things but all they do is put out seal-coloured wetsuits," Mr Ayre said.
The suggestion has surprised Napier wetsuit manufacturer Blue Seventy sponsorship manager Guy Crawford, whose company supports several events in Lake Wanaka.
Mr Crawford said when contacted he did not think triathletes wanted to wear pink, green or orange wetsuits but would be happy to wear fluorescent caps.
Although fluorescent wetsuits had been popular many years ago, the fabric could not be easily obtained in New Zealand, Mr Crawford said.
Swimmers might object spending up to $1500 upgrading their wetsuits and it would be difficult to custom-fit existing wetsuits with fluorescent strips, Mr Crawford said.
More use of colour could be investigated if swimmers demanded it, he said.
Mr Ayre operates Lake Wanaka Yacht Charters from Roys Bay and told the Wanaka Community Board more people were swimming long distances from the beach.
"They seem to insist on wearing grey-coloured wetsuits and have no idea of the boating rules," Mr Ayre said.
While swimmers did not seem to understand they could not swim in ski lanes, there was also a problem with boat users understanding the five-knot speed restriction, he said.
Bylaw changes should include an annual launch fee linked to boat trailer registration numbers, with boat owners given a copy of the boating rules when they paid their fee so they couldn't give the excuse of not knowing what they were, Mr Ayre said.
The fee could be a "sort of registration" and the money used on swimmer education, he said.
Wanaka Community Board chairman Lyal Cocks said he was aware of swimming issues this year.
New bylaws were being proposed to increase the five-knot speed restriction to 200m offshore and there were moves for a boat-free area in the bay.
Cr Cocks told the Otago Daily Times an option was to remove ski lanes from Roys Bay at the end of McDougall St and between Wanaka Station Park and Edgewater.
