A history of nude swimming while it might be unbelievable today, boys were once required to swim nude at ymca pools — yet some recall the experience with no shame. School boards, the ymca, the boys’ club and other health clubs with pools followed these recommendations and mandated that men and boys swim naked, which they were used to doing Women and girls were allowed to wear swimming suits in deference to the view that female modesty should be respected but specified that the suits should not be dyed. 1 families were allowed to come to our mide swim meets My mother and sisters, and other mothers and daughters all came to our high school swim meets where we all swam naked. After i interviewed mecurio, i called my old ymca, spoke to the senior property manager, and asked why we weren’t required to swim nude back in the ‘70s
After all, our y was in an old mansion built at the turn of the last century, and surely that pool had the same limitations. As best as i can determine, nude swimming was the official policy of the ymca since its inception in the 1840s, both in america and canada A 1938 bulletin issued by the american public health association reads “at indoor pools used exclusively by men, nude bathing should be required. Three part documentary on the history of boys swimming nude at the ymca and public schools the following three part video is a youtube documentary compiled by an historian that did extensive documentation research into the policy requiring boys to swim nude at schools and such organizations as the ymca. A ymca policy used to require swimming in the nude
