Swimming Naked in Gym

[bbb]

Had to have your own bathing suit in at Burnt Hills back in 73 when I graduated.

Used to swim late at night after drinking down at Collins Park in scotia naked with several friends. Girls and guys.

Now they don't let you swim at all. They used to have a nice beach.

We could see if the Y would let us do a 518 naked lunch swim. Gugny, call and see if you can set it up.

 

[Wacka]

Had to have your own bathing suit in at Burnt Hills back in 73 when I graduated.

Used to swim late at night after drinking down at Collins Park in scotia naked with several friends. Girls and guys.

Now they don't let you swim at all. They used to have a nice beach.

We could see if the Y would let us do a 518 naked lunch swim. Gugny, call and see if you can set it up.

Y! M! C! A! It's fun to swim at the...

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

??? I'm confused. It seems like most of those from Buffalo and NF are saying there were no bathing suits in the 60's and early 70's. And isn't Rochester part of WNY?

 

What am I missing here.

 

Anyway, even at the time I thought it was a little weird, but it wasn't THAT weird. And I actually think it might help these kids have a healthier "body image", since you see "normal" is a variety of shapes and sizes. (No, I'm not specifically talking about the junk, here. Truth is, I can't even remember anyone looking, commenting, about privates, back then.)

My co-workers of that age that swam in nude out here in MidWest.

 

That quote did say all across the country.

Had to have your own bathing suit in at Burnt Hills back in 73 when I graduated.

Used to swim late at night after drinking down at Collins Park in scotia naked with several friends. Girls and guys.

Now they don't let you swim at all. They used to have a nice beach.

We could see if the Y would let us do a 518 naked lunch swim. Gugny, call and see if you can set it up.

Where is Collins Park, Scotia? 518?

[The Dean]

My co-workers of that age that swam in nude out here in MidWest.

 

That quote did say all across the country.

 

 

Oh, my bad. For some reason, I read so it seemed as though you were saying it was all around the country, but not in WNY. So my slight dyslexia probably read it as:

 

"Just doesn't seem to be a WNY thing... or perhaps "Doesn't just seem to be a WNY thing..."

 

 

,"Doesn't just seem to be a WNY thing..." or perhaps "Just doesn't seem to be a WNY thing..."

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

Oh, my bad. For some reason, I read so it seemed as though you were saying it was all around the country, but not in WNY. So my slight dyslexia probably read it as:

 

"Just doesn't seem to be a WNY thing... or perhaps "Doesn't just seem to be a WNY thing..."

 

 

,"Doesn't just seem to be a WNY thing..." or perhaps "Just doesn't seem to be a WNY thing..."

More specifically, I think the article mentions more prevelant in large cities throughout the state and country.

 

It would be interesting to get more of an outside the WNY perspective.

 

mead already confirmed it was prevalent in the Schenectady area.

 

Hey... Older Canadians what was norm up there? I am not sure if I should go there. ;-)

[CowgirlsFan]

Had to have your own bathing suit in at Burnt Hills back in 73 when I graduated.

Used to swim late at night after drinking down at Collins Park in scotia naked with several friends. Girls and guys.

Now they don't let you swim at all. They used to have a nice beach. We could see if the Y would let us do a 518 naked lunch swim. Gugny, call and see if you can set it up.

Lunch???

 

You'd have better luck arranging a ""mid night swim"".

[ExiledInIllinois]

Lunch???

 

You'd have better luck arranging a ""mid night swim"".

You still spying on the Boy's Gym Class?

 

;-)

[Gugny]

Had to have your own bathing suit in at Burnt Hills back in 73 when I graduated.

Used to swim late at night after drinking down at Collins Park in scotia naked with several friends. Girls and guys.

Now they don't let you swim at all. They used to have a nice beach.

We could see if the Y would let us do a 518 naked lunch swim. Gugny, call and see if you can set it up.

 

Okay.

 

Let's not invite Fergy to this one.

[Fadingpain]

Was this thread created b/c we are officially out of interesting non-football topics to discuss?

 

I'm not sure I've ever pondered varying regional scholastic swim code culture before...

 

...or that this topic requires discussion at all!

[Gugny]

Was this thread created b/c we are officially out of interesting non-football topics to discuss?

 

I'm not sure I've ever pondered varying regional scholastic swim code culture before...

 

...or that this topic requires discussion at all!

 

 

This is a discussion that has happened mid-thread for years. EII, once again, brought it up in another thread and - once again - I puked, then decided to make a thread to determine ONCE AND FOR ALL if this was commonplace in any other area of the free !@#$ing world than Western New York.

 

So far, it was not.

 

Something was amiss in WNY in the years leading up to the late 70s/early 80s, and it wasn't just Beerball.

We need to get to the bottom of this.

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

This is a discussion that has happened mid-thread for years. EII, once again, brought it up in another thread and - once again - I puked, then decided to make a thread to determine ONCE AND FOR ALL if this was commonplace in any other area of the free !@#$ing world than Western New York.

 

So far, it was not.

 

Something was amiss in WNY in the years leading up to the late 70s/early 80s, and it wasn't just Beerball.

We need to get to the bottom of this.

So once again... Swimming nekkid in this area of the Midwest gets overlooked? Mead was in 518, it happened there...

 

The narrative you spin Gug... Even the Rochester piece acknowledges it happend in cities and stayed across the country.

[Kelly the Dog]

 

This is a discussion that has happened mid-thread for years. EII, once again, brought it up in another thread and - once again - I puked, then decided to make a thread to determine ONCE AND FOR ALL if this was commonplace in any other area of the free !@#$ing world than Western New York.

 

So far, it was not.

 

Something was amiss in WNY in the years leading up to the late 70s/early 80s, and it wasn't just Beerball.

We need to get to the bottom of this.

Black Creek Village. Look it up. Not to be confused with Black Creek Pioneer Village.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Kelly the Dog

[ExiledInIllinois]

Chicago area:

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/open-heart/2014/08/swimming-naked-in-gym-class-really-happened/

[Gugny]

So once again... Swimming nekkid in this area of the Midwest gets overlooked? Mead was in 518, it happened there...

 

The narrative you spin Gug... Even the Rochester piece acknowledges it happend in cities and stayed across the country.

 

Mead was in Burnt Hills and they brought their own suits. No naked gym swimming.

 

And, other than you saying what you've heard - I have no actual testimonial from anyone on this site ... other than people from WNY ... who say naked gym swimming was the norm.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Janesville, WI:

 

https://dose.com/articles/a-brief-humiliating-history-of-swimming-in-gym-class/

 

A simple Google search will do it... Gug didn't need to make a thread.

"In 1885, the Brooklyn YMCA opened Americas first recreational indoor pool and required men to swim nude. Wool swimsuits were potential traps for disease and bacteria, and fibers clogged the pools simple filtration system. At the time, nude swimming seemed like the most sensible option (even though incorrect proportions of chlorine had a tendency to burn swimmers bare skin).

 

It wasnt long before school administrators followed suit. Per their pool management guidelines, The American Public Health Association (APHA) required male public school students to swim nude between 1926 and 1962.

 

After pools installed more advanced filtration systems, swimming nude became redundant. The YMCA and public schools phased the practice out in the 60s and 70s, but it lived on longer than was strictly necessary. Its possible these administrators thought nude swimming built cohesion between young men, fostering a bond through mutual chagrin."

 

Jesus Christ... Can't believe I am doing Sue's homework:

 

https://sites.google.com/site/historicarchives4maleswimming/home/archives---mid-20th-century-to-current/photographs

Edited October 4, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois

[The Dean]

More specifically, I think the article mentions more prevelant in large cities throughout the state and country.

 

It would be interesting to get more of an outside the WNY perspective.

 

mead already confirmed it was prevalent in the Schenectady area.

 

Hey... Older Canadians what was norm up there? I am not sure if I should go there. ;-)

 

 

Based on this thread, the stuff I've read, and mostly from comments from friends all over the country, I think it was pretty much nationwide, back in those days.

[Gugny]

I can't believe you just used the Lord's name in vain.

 

Derek Carr would say, "what the heck???!?!"

 

I want testimonials from TBD users. Not links. If I wanted links, I would have invited 26CB to this thread, GOD DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

[ExiledInIllinois]

I can't believe you just used the Lord's name in vain.

 

Derek Carr would say, "what the heck???!?!"

 

I want testimonials from TBD users. Not links. If I wanted links, I would have invited 26CB to this thread, GOD DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!

I am Roman Catholic. I will go to confession on Saturday. ;-)

 

 

Based on this thread, the stuff I've read, and mostly from comments from friends all over the country, I think it was pretty much nationwide, back in those days.

Thank You!

 

Pool filtration systems... Sure there were perves...This is for Gug: But come on Gug, SJW is unbecoming. :

[ExiledInIllinois]

Hey Gugny, did you catch this:

 

"These photos were printed in a 1941 edition of LIFE. The fact that this family magazine was sold to the public on virtually ever newsstand in America is very telling of the culture of the day. Taking a camera into a boys' locker room at school and photographing teenage boys completely naked while showering, then, printing that photo taking up an entire half page for the world to look at was consider perfectly appropriate. The published letters to the editor immediately subsequent to this edition never revealed any reader voicing concern about it. But there is little doubt that had the photograph been taken in the girls' showers showing them stark naked, it never would have been printed anywhere. This clearly evidences a double-standard that reaches well into the 20th century."

 

 

Since you don't like links.

Linked from above:

 

"Were females ever present during swim classes?

 

Posts by those that lived during this period found on forums and discussion boards are consistent with their agreement that it was more common than not for swimming programs to require boys to swim nude whereas girls were always clothed. What is not consistent with these stories and often debated is whether females were allowed into the pool area while the boys were swimming in the nude.

 

But the debate is not so clear-cut as to which view is more accurate. To accurately understand history, when studying culture of past eras, one must disassociate their self from current cultural norms. For instance, the concept of human slavery or women not being allowed to vote are abominable in accordance with today's standards, but they are truthful relics of an ugly past. And today, such matters as female reporters in men's locker rooms or female guards monitoring the showers at men's correctional institutions would be equally as abominable if those in previous eras were presented that reality. So it is a small reach to think that during a period of time when men and boys swam nude that in some uncommon situations, women were allowed to either teach swim courses to naked boys, or, families allowed to watch swim meets when the boys swam au natural.

 

And even within our recent past we see how attitudes have changed. In 1960, Walt Disney produced the G-rate Polyanna, and in the opening shot are naked boys swimming in the river with one boy on a rope swing being shown naked from head to foot:

 

 

 

This tells us that watching naked boys swimming was deemed acceptable for everyone, regardless of the age or gender of those watching. This is also as evidenced in the 1940 Sheboygan Press and Life Magazine photos above, which clearly view publishing photographs of completely naked boys in swim classes was acceptable for wide circulation without restrictions. Given this culture of that era, one begins to give more credence to those men that claim that during that same era, they participated in swim classes and swim meets in the nude while females were in the audience watching and/or, even their swim instructors may have been female. The age level of the boys at which time it might have no longer been deemed acceptable in various communities is still uncertain, but presented herein is enough factual, authenticated news articles, photos and accounts that evidence that indeed, mixed-gender observation of boys of all ages swim and compete in the nude did indeed occur, and was not isolated to a few rare accounts.

 

We found one blog on a Fargo, North Dakota public high school site wherein folks that went there in the 50s and 60s retold stories of their experiences. The stories were consistent with nudity requirement only for boys whereas girls wore suits. But What was also interesting was the posts by some of the women that talked about how the girls' locker room doors emptied onto the pool area, and the cracks in the door were wide enough to allow the girls to peek in while they routinely would enjoy watching the boys line up for role call naked, and, that their female instructors found no issue with them doing just that. Such stories are numerous, and several have been posted herein on our "Stories" page. However, they do not answer a more perplexing question, and that is - were females ever allowed into the swimming areas at the same time boys were conducting nude swim classes? Anecdotal stories posted by male bloggers have been found where they vehemently swear that, yes, they had female swim instructors while they conducted their swim classes in the nude. Others profess that there were parents nights and swim meets wherein parents were allowed to watch the boys demonstrate their swimming skills and/or compete while the swam in the nude, and, that these parents might bring the boys' female siblings to watch as well..."

Edited October 4, 2017 by ExiledInIllinois

[BringBackFergy]

Swimming is a high school sport.

Swimming in the nude during gym class occurred during the 1970's.

The Buffalo News Sports Editor is asking for suggestions on the main page.

Gugny should be hired to conduct an investigative report for the Buffalo News Sports desk on "Nude Swimming During Gym Class in WNY"