In most parts of the worldīeing naked at the pool or beach is not a problem. Today the women wear the equivalent of a band-aid for swiming suit and the men hide in very baggy suit so that you can't see anything. Naked was not a big deal then, wearing bathing suits that showed that you were a man was also no big deal. This was in the mid sixties and seeing another person The rest of the kids were naked too and no one was embarrazed. Too weird.Learned to swim naked at the Y with a naked instructor, I wish it had stayed the way it was!Īnd I wouldn't like a lifeguard watching me. Our Y is co-ed now and I'm pretty sure no one swim in the buff now. Like Nat said- it was just the normal thing back then. My dad said he swam naked at the Y when he was a kid.
I have a pool now so that I can swim naked during the summer.Īnd I wouldn't like a lifeguard watching me. Too weird.Naked swimming didn't bother him, and still doesn't, but he has mentioned the mom's were all there too. Tall, short, thin, heavy etc., it was a way of teaching diversity.Īnd I wouldn't like a lifeguard watching me. Consequently, you felt safe in the setting and because everyone was naked it was an opportunity to see that there are all kinds of men. I learned that a man looks out for the well being of others and if someone was goofing around & it could cause trouble for someone or if you were doing something you shouldn't be, one of the men would call you on it. As a boy and then teen, I learned about respect and caring from other men. The men were aware of the boys & teens and kept an eye out for you. There was a sense of community that I have not experienced very often since those days. Like Nat said, the lifeguard on duty was naked as well it just was. Too weird.It wasn't weird at all, it was what was normal so there was just a sense of "normalacy" in it all. except that the water was pretty cold.Īnd I wouldn't like a lifeguard watching me. It was very stimulating, and I don't know HOW I kept it down. I remember swimming nude in the big indoor pool, with other guys, mostly older downtown businessmen. Too weird.Years ago when in college I attended a conference in Cincinatti, and we had Y privileges. Then again, if people went to the Y more often this wouldn't have to happen !! LOL.) I don't think I'm conservative.Īnd I wouldn't like a lifeguard watching me. (And, especially since 60% of Americans are now considered overweight. (Small town).Īlthough it's been brought up here on the site that it's natural and gives a guy freedom, I wouldn't be comfortable going to the Y now and jumping off the diving board naked or seeing naked men jumping off the diving board. The senior high and jr high didn't have pools. My parents didn't belong to the Y and we took swimming lessons (coed) at the outdoor city pool in the summer. I still am incredulous that this went on before the mid'70's, or on swim teams, and I am not naive or have lived a sheltered life. Were the lifeguards naked at the Y's or schools or whereever as well ?
Maybe we were just terribly naive, but I never heard of anything unsavory happening. And as I noted in a post down below, homosexuality and child molestation were things people didn't think about back then. But at the time it seem quite normal- we though of the older members like they were uncles or big brothers. Today most people would think there was something really perverse about adults and kids being naked together. You know as I think about this now, I realize how strange all this sounds now.
He was so pissed when he found out it was a joke he banned the kid for a month. Normally he wore shorts and a T-shirt because he had to come and go out front but I remember one time one of the kids pretended to be drowning and he came running out of his office and jump in- clothes and all. The aquatic director's office was next to the pool and he could see what was happening. I remember sometimes in the afternoons we would have to go to the gameroom and talk one of the older guys into coming in with us. I have no idea if this was true, but it answered the question.)ĭuring regular swim sessions there was no actual lifeguard but there was a rule that we kids couldn't swim unless there was someone over 16 in the pool. (The reason they gave if anyone ask was that lint would clogged the filters. In fact, no clothing was ever allowed in the pool. Our school didn't have a pool but when I took swimming lessons at the Y in 1955 our instructor (the aquatic director) was a man of about 25 and was nude as well.