A reader sent me the link to an article by someone that was made to swim nude for class at school many years ago. I’ve read bits and pieces about nude swimming at the YMCA and in school classes for the boys in the 50’s and 60’s and there are contradictory stories. Some guys hated being made to be nude and others revelled in it. I’d love to hear from any readers than have experienced these nude swims either at school or at the local YMCA or equivalent.
These photos aren’t from those situations but are perfect examples of those old times when men, in this case soldiers, could swim nude and relax together without any concerns of sexuality etc. Simpler times I think. Sure there were gay people but because they sadly couldn’t be open then so in a way it led to more freedom for guys to be nude.
Hi! I lived in northern Minnesota as a child in the early 60s. We had swimming class every week in the nude. We would first shower and then we would go to the pool which was a classic 1930s style pool. Nobody seemed to mind swimming in the nude and I loved it when our young gym teacher would stand at the top of the steps leading down from the locker room to the pool. He would then strip naked and then start the class. I remember clearly the times he would have some of the high school kids come to help him teach the class. They too were naked and they would pick us up and carry us on their shoulders. I WAS IN HEAVEN!!!! To this day I love to swim in the nude. Both Helsinki and Turku have nude only swimming public swimming pools which are male only. One of the is featured in the movie Gorky park. It is a very cruisey place and the saunas are excellent!
From what I hear, most folks were fine with it.
In my first swimming lesson at my secondary school, when I was 10, the swimming master explained that everyone was expected to swim nude although this was not required, and that wearing a costume was unhygenic and unmanly. It did the trick: after a week or so, we were all swimming nude. It felt embarrassing to start with but we got used to it and everyone was equally nude after all. It’s true that as we reached puberty some people were “early” and others were “late” but I suppose we would have noticed that in the changing rooms anyway.
WHen I was about 16 the swimming master retired and was replaced by a much younger man with a PhD. He obviously didn’t think it was normal to swim nude and very quickly everyone was in costumes again.
I’m assuming the original master was a bit of a perve, but I might be wrong about that.
Cheers.
After Catholic school for 8 years, I started public school in the 9th grade. We never had any type of P.E. in Catholic school so gym class and the showers were all new to me. Each six weeks our class changed sports and was I surprised when it came time for swimming. Suits were not allowed and I had never swam nude before and it was wonderful. The coaches also swam with us and one was especially well endowed and he knew it. He was the talk of all the guys and all hoped they would develop just like him. Well, dream on guys.
I remember it as a great time for everyone. Some were uncomfortable at first, myself included, but the six weeks went by very fast. We did have to be carefull though. Even though the windows were very high, if you were doing an especially high spring dive, you could be seen. Lots of girls lined up to see if they could catch a glimpse and many a springy dive took place.
Sad that times have changed, but I live in Austin Texas and we do have a nude swimming area at Lake Travis that I frequent during the summer.
We had swimming as part of PE in the 9th grade in the late 50’s in Buffalo, NY. I was slow in developing and was unathletic, to put it mildly, so this was embarrassing and I didn’t like it. However, I did like seeing the more “mature” guys horsing around and there were a couple of scenes that entered my masturbation fantasies for many years, especially a very hot guy named Kurtz. The teacher, however, was fat, “old” (over 40; probably in his 50s), and ugly. Unfortunately. One kid had a curved penis and took endless teasing.
God where was I? We NEVER did this sort of thing at my Catholic School in the 1970’s. I was so shy then so would have been extremely ambarrassed. Anyway I swim naked now and see you Brenton at the beach when you go. It’s so natural there anyway!
Harrow School in the UK used to swim nude in their outdoor and indoor pools for years, into the ’80’s, until some housemaster’s wife complained that none of the housemaster’s wives or daughters were allowed to use the pools, and that was the end of that.
The men using the pool at the RAC club in London were also always nude until women forced their way in.
Those were the days.
Miss those days — I was a competitive swimmer starting in 2nd grade thru high school.
We always wore speedos, but did go a few times to a private club to swim and the pool was men only, and there was a no suit rule. I didn’t ‘know’ I was gay, but knew I loved seeing all the men of different ages in the pool.
In high school there was always a lot of showing off in speedos — and the speedos were pretty skimpy. One of the better swimmers loved to pull his big dick out and put in on the edge of the pool when we were between sets to get the coach (also in a speedo) to react.
Interestingly, the coach use to love to come in after practice and shower with the team — now I realize he was gay - but there is nothing like a team of 30 naked high school boys in an open shower all showering together — still have fantasies about that!
And, I remember growing up watching everyone’s body change in the open showers — Another guy and I were the first to reach puberty, and remember being a little self conscious, and knowing others were looking to see our growing pubic hair. One time, a couple guys were alone in the locker room and one of them asked us all to show our crotches so we could compare..remember vividly when one guy touched my pubs!
And, my first gay experience was after practice with two of my team mates — in the rec room of my buddy’s house.
but I digress….nude swimming….wish we could still do it!
Camp Gregory on Crystal Lake near Gray, ME, required all the campers at Reville to head for the water for an early morning dip to wake up before getting dressed for breakfast. The counselors were mostly seminarians,I think, and 75% of the campers were pre-pubescent, so no big deal on pubes. I went from age 12 to 14. However, the early morning dip was at the beach next to the Infirmary where the camp nurse lived. Some of us would head for the water and then mix with those returning campers without ever going in the water more becauseof the nurse than the nakedness. Swim sessions were always with suits. My Catholic boarding grammar school had gang showers but we all had to wear shower pants. Catholic high school did not have PE or gang showers. My first experience exposed to and exposed with grown men was my Draft physical in an antiseptic environment. My military experience in OTS was with shower stalls rather than gang showers, and/or sharing a bathroom, so very limited exposure to nudity before playgirl or Blueboy.
When I was in college in the early 1970s the university had two pools mens and womens. The mens pool was swim suit optional. I use to go to a noon lap swim. Nobody wore suits. It was convenient not to have to carry a wet suit around to classes. One guy, who was virtually blind with out glasses, couldn’t swim a straight line. So he kept bumping into other guys. That was fun! He was in excellent shape. Thanks for reminding me. Gotta go now.
As a kid, I belonged to the New Orleans Athletic Club (junior member), and they required nude swimming. Interestingly, the pool was filled with salt water (c. 1957-58). In college (a Catholic college, no less) nude swimming (male only, although it was a co-ed school) was the norm in the college lake (c. 1965-69). I was never uncomfortable in either setting, and nobody else seemed to be, either.