IT'S A MANZ WORLD

SWIMMING NAKED AT THE YMCA -

Note: While most Manz World stories are fictionalized accounts of how the painting shown here came to be, this one is completely true. Yes, it happened to me!

The year was 1956. I had just turned nine years old when my mother decided that I needed instruction on how to “swim properly.” By “properly” she meant more than keeping my head above water as I dog-paddled around in a pool or a lake. As we did not have a lake or community swimming pool nearby, I had not had much experience, even in the dog-paddling.

I well remember the afternoon my mother drove me to our local YMCA. In those days, the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) was exclusively male, while the girls and women had the YWCA—the “W” obviously standing for “Women”—which was located only a few blocks away.

The purpose of our visit was to sign me up for a beginner’s swimming class. Upon entering the building, we were greeted by an older female receptionist. After my mother explained the purpose of our visit, the lady sign me up for the class. Just before leaving, my mother asked what kind of swimwear I should bring. The lady answered, “Oh, there is no need for a swimsuit. All the boys and men swim naked here.”

Little was said during the drive home. Once in the house, my father greeted us and asked about the sign up. My mother didn’t say much at that time, but later, when I was in the next room, I overheard her tell my father about the naked swimming. His response was a nonchalant, “Yeah, I know.” That was it. Nothing more was said.

The class met on a Saturday morning and consisted of about a dozen or so boys between the ages of eight and ten. I well remember our first class. We all gathered in the locker room, where we met our instructor. He was a young, athletic looking guy who I later found out was a college student. His instructions to us were to “strip to the skin,” to put all our clothing and shoes into the lockers and meet him at the entry to the shower room which was nearby. He then disappeared.

After doing as instructed, I soon found myself totally naked, huddled with the other boys, waiting for our instructor to once again appear. I have to admit being a bit nervous since this was the first time I’d ever been naked with others, especially kids I didn’t know. It was quite noticeable that most of the other boys were also showing signs of nervousness, even shyness.

A short time after leaving us, the instructor appeared, totally naked except for a whistle hanging on a lanyard around his neck. Using a rather stern voice, he told us to take showers—emphasizing the use of soap—and then to meet him at the door to the pool. Once showered, all of us naked boys grouped together and then were led into the pool room by our instructor. The room was all tiled with a large pool in the center. As we entered, we were marched along the side then commanded to stop and face the pool. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see several of the boys standing with shoulders raised up and arms folded over their chest, shivering, probably in response to the cool temperature that we were all experiencing. I also saw that a few of the boys had placed their hands over their genitals, a sure sign that they were uncomfortable by the nudity they were experiencing, possibly for the first time.

After introducing us to the plan of the day, our instructor told us to jump into the pool. Fortunately, it was at the shallow end. The lesson of the day was to learn to float. That was done with the help of a partner who would hold his hands under our back until we got comfortable with floating.

Learning to float was a challenge for me, but I soon got the hang of it as most of the other kids did. More of a challenge was that, when lying on my back, my “privates” were totally exposed, visible for all to see. However, that uneasiness was short-lived since all the boys became so focused on the attempts to float that our nudity became less of a factor.

That class was a benchmark in my life because it was not only helpful in me learning to swim, it was also one that helped me feel better about myself, especially about my body, one that was very much on the skinny side.

Throughout my young years, I had been teased about my slender frame. But seeing the other boys and the diversity of bodies made me recognize that I wasn’t the only “different” kid. Every boy in the class was different in their physical makeup. Yes, there were the more able-bodied, athletic boys. But there were also the skinny kids and the fat kids and all the in-between kids. So, over those six weeks, as I began to make friends with my swimmates, I found a kind of acceptance I had never had before. I didn’t feel so odd or different. It also helped to know that I wasn’t the only boy who didn’t swim as gracefully as others, that I wasn’t the only boy who felt awkward in, even a bit shy about, his body. That changed for me as we all met together, learned together, showered together, swam together and, yes, were naked together.

To this day, I believe those swimming classes at the “Y” and the physical openness that was provided—actually mandated—resulted in me having a more wholesome, balanced perception of my own body. Undoubtedly, I came away a more grounded, healthy young man. And I owe all that to my mother and her wish for me to learn to swim “properly.”

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Note: When I have mentioned how nude swimming was the norm when I was a child, many people are shocked to the point that can hardly believe what I’m saying. In doing research, I found that, in 1926, the American Public Health Association published the first guidelines for swimming pool management in the United States. The guidelines were updated every one to three years, as needed. Those guidelines mandated that males must take a soap shower and swim nude. The reason for the nudity was because the filtering systems were not the greatest and could be easily clogged by the material of swimsuits of the day, which were mostly made of wool or cotton. Over time, the YMCA, Boys Clubs of America, and most public schools mandated that their pool management practices must follow APHA guidelines. The guidelines that set policies for men and boys to use pools only in the nude were not relaxed until 1962. Thus, prior to that year, virtually all swimming courses at YMCAs and Boys Clubs of America as well as at the majority of public schools, including high school and colleges, had a requirement that either prohibited males from wearing swim suits when in the pool or expressly discouraged it.