Answers
Mar 15, 2016 - 07:02 PM
I would suggest that we wear "bathing suits" to swim in the ocean. It's not unreasonable to refer to swimming as bathing even in English, though it's not a common expression. I suspect Italians think of it the same way. To bathe and to swim are synonyms. Either one would be understood. Context would indicate a bath versus a swim.
Mar 19, 2016 - 11:50 AM
I have now asked a native italian acquaintance and she concurs that they are fairly synonymous and interchangeable. The lessons only accept Fare il Bagno, so it was confusing for me. In my english mode it just didn't seem correct to exclude swimming in a lake or river in favor of bathing. Oh, well.