Nude Boy Swimmers

Nude Boy Swimmers
Hannah Dellinger April 28, 2019 GMT
Connect with the definitive source for global and local news
All contents © copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
GREENWICH — A lawsuit filed against the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich claims a sexual abuser used the clubs’ mandatory naked swimming rule in the 1970s and ’80s as an opportunity to victimize boys.
The then-Greenwich Boys’ Club wasn’t the only youth organization that once required boys to swim naked. While the practice may sound shocking or counterintuitive to children’s safety today, nude swimming at public indoor pools was once a federal recommendation.
“At indoor pools used exclusively by men nude bathing should be required,” says a document published by the American Public Health Association in 1926. “At indoor pools used exclusively by women bathing suits should be of the simplest type.”
The origins of nude swimming can be found well before the guideline was published. When the first indoor pool opened at the Brooklyn YMCA in 1885, the organization required men and boys to swim naked. The club said it banned swimsuits because the common wool suits of the time carried disease and bacteria, and fibers clogged the pool’s simple filtration system, according to multiple publications.
Other reasons given by administrators during the era included concerns about the expense of bathing suits, newspaper articles of the time indicate.
“Money-wise the wearing of suits is out of the question,” John Pawlowski Jr., president of the Board of Education in Appleton, Wis., said at a public meeting in 1961, according to an article published by the Appleton Press at the time. “It would mean an investment of $2,000 to $3,000.”
Others in favor of naked swimming said the practice prepared boys for adulthood.
“Physical education considers that this experience is a good one for later life, for example, the armed services, where the disregard for privacy is real and serious,” another man said in the story.
After the American Public Health Association published its recommended swimming regulations in 1926, nearly all Boys’ Clubs of America, YMCAs and public schools in the nation followed or encouraged them, a practice that lasted for many years, historical documents and newspaper archives indicate.
“At no time will suits be worn in the pool and boys will not need them any time during the entire program,” says a brief published about a YMCA swimming class in Bridgeport’s Port News in March 1959.
Many places adopted the practice before the 1926 decree. The April 1922 issue of the Boys’ Workers Round Table, published by the organization that ran all Boys’ Clubs in the nation at the time, ran multiple photographs of naked boys swimming at the Worcester, Mass., Boys’ Club. The same publication in 1923 featured a photograph of nude boys swimming at a pond at the Springfield, Mass., Boys’ Club farm camp.
Images of naked adolescent boys swimming appeared in national publications, including Life Magazine. Newspapers such as the New York Times detailed swim meets in sports stories, specifically mentioning the swimmers’ nudity.
Boys who refused to swim naked were ostracized by other boys and sometimes coaches or instructors, documents and videos show. Syndicated columnist Ann Landers chided a boy who wrote to ask her advice about his reluctance to swim naked in front of his peers.
“You need to talk to a school counselor and learn why you are so uptight about being seen naked,” she wrote in a 1974 column. “If you look around you’ll find the vast majority of the guys who are showering are not in the least bit self-conscious.”
The practice became a kind of rite-of-passage for young men, Richard Senelick wrote in The Atlantic in 2014.
“Many men don’t speak up about their desire for privacy in fear that they will be mocked for not being ‘man enough,’” he wrote. “There is the assumption that men bond by swimming or showering together in the nude, but I can assure you that, given a choice, we would have rather worn a bathing suit and showered in a stall.”
Naked swimming rules weren’t met with much dissent, newspaper archives show. But eventually attitudes began to change.
The 1961 article in the Appleton Post noted more than 370 people signed a petition demanding the school board change its nude swimming mandate.
One woman was quoted as saying boys were “affected morally, physically and psychologically by forcing them to swim nude.”
Even though most youth organizations parted with the rule around the 1960s, according to numerous media reports, the Greenwich Boys’ Club continued to implement naked swimming until at least the early 1980s, a lawsuit filed against the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich says.
“At that time, it was custom that younger Boys’ Club members swam naked while in the pool, on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summertime after outings to Island Beach or Tod’s Point Beach,” the lawsuit complaint says.
It was also common for older boys to swim clothed with the naked younger boys, per the lawsuit, and they regularly “horse-played” during these swims.
The five plaintiffs in the case say counselor Andrew Atkinson sexually abused them at the Greenwich club in the 1970s and ’80s, including at least one in the swimming pool.
“During these summertime naked swimming experiences ... (a 6-year-old victim) regularly came into contact with (his alleged abuser), who, as an older boy, was wearing a bathing suit,” the complaint says. “(The young boy), while naked and in the pool, was molested, fondled and groped by Atkinson. These incidents of sexual assault were masked by the horseplay.”
In an interview last month, Atkinson, now 54, denied abusing anybody.
Attorneys for the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich declined to comment about the allegations of nude swimming at the facility in the past. Administrators told Greenwich Time previously the safety of the children they serve is the main priority of the organization.
Representatives from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America declined to comment on pending litigation, but said the organization recognizes the pain victims of child sexual abuse have suffered.
“We understand time does not take away any pain inflicted on victims and their families,” the statement says. “We respect those who have brought forward these extremely serious concerns. It is our aim to have the lawsuit resolved in a manner that provides support and comfort to the victims and their families.”

By Norm ,
November 12, 2013 at 9:46 am

Sign in
Pitch your idea
Play games

from Chicago Weather Watch by Weather Girl posted today at 3:45 pm
from Despising Yourself, Positively by Mahjabeen Syed posted today at 2:49 pm
from From Hollywood to Ravenswood by Lawrence Hartmann posted today at 2:48 pm
from Zack's Media Blog by Zack Isaacs-Raz posted today at 11:00 am
from The Amused Curmudgeon by badjack posted Friday at 1:41 pm
Chicago Cubs news and comprehensive blog, featuring old school baseball writing combined with the latest statistical trends
Pets available for adoption in the Chicago area
It's like the couch potato version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
After watching swim team meets between other schools, I tried out for our high school swim team (I attended Harrison High School in Chicago from 1946-1950) and what do you know, I made it! As I relive this memory it also talks to how swimming has changed in six decades and all for the better.
I went to my first practice session in our swimming pool and I saw no one wearing a bathing suit. It was strange seeing my swim team members jumping into the pool while their private parts also jumped. It was liberating without swim trunks and actually without the heavy boxer short swims suits it helped us stroke that much faster.
I tried out for the relay swim team and lost by a stroke but I still remained on the team as a substitute. Then it was time to swim against another high school. There wasn’t any audience (don’t ask me why) but there we were, two teams competing without swim trunks. When I think about it I find it hilarious to believe we ever practiced and competed completely naked. Now the fun part!
We had another meet, this time with an audience of men and women. No! I know what you’re thinking but we wore the worst fitting swim suits of that era. One of our swimmers was in the 40 yard free style. Most pools of that time were twenty yards as pools by meters were not built at that time. So they dove off the side of the pool, did their belly flop and off they went.
When the swimmers came to the end of the first lap, they pulled their bodies out of the water and released their feet off the pool and it happened. When one of our swimmers pushed off the side of the pool his swim trunks began to slide off his waist and his buns started to show. While the audience chuckled he finished the race and with a blushing face went to the bench.
Now in todays swimming you wear the skin tight suit so water can’t crawl into the suit and you lose it. In addition, you no longer jump from the side of the pool into the water with a body flop. Yes, it did hurt. Now you have a platform so that the entry into the pool is faster and smoother and no more body flops.
My memory of the better swim times has faded but they probably couldn’t compete with the modern day swimmer. Today’s techniques and practice are so far apart to my era but so much better for today’s competitors.
Now back to my time. I was trying out for the long distance team. We had to swim 100 yards, 5 lengths of the pool and it was the most embarrassing trial run I could have had. There I am butt naked, never swam the distance but when all my team mates were finished I was last in the pace. I actually changed lanes all through my tryout. You guessed it, I did not make the long distance team.
After that we were to assemble around the pool in our swim trunks for a team picture. While the photographer set up his equipment I strolled into the hallway and saw some guys playing basketball in the small gym. So I started to play the game with them, barefoot and in swim trunks! I got so engrossed in the game I forgot about the team picture and I never took my place for the photo. So Harrisonians, you won’t find my photo with the swim team in any of our year books. But I did end up on the basketball team.
This is what I love about Chicago Then. I can fill in the blanks with memories of another time but I can make it a semi-autographical history of my own life way back when.
Memories light the corners of my mind and I hope yours too!
Want to read more memories of Chicago in the 1940’s and 50’s? Become a subscriber and walk down memory lane with me!
Type your email address in the box and click the “create subscription” button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
Filed under:
Chicago History , Entertainment , sports , Uncategorized
Tags:
Chicago History , Harrison High School 1950 , High school swim teams , Swimming , swimming nude

Meet
our bloggers,
post comments, or
pitch your blog idea.
Born and raised in Chicago in an era when life was totally different. You would not recognize Chicago then compared to Chicago Now. I was married 55 years, have 3 children, 6 grandchildren and even 2 great grandsons. I was a professional fund raiser and eventually retired as the Executive Director of another agency and had my fifteen minutes of fame. Maybe I'll add a few with my blog.

Log in or sign up

Log In

Sign Up

Site search

Search
Search

Homophobia

Out Athletes

Coming Out Stories

Straight Sports from the Gays

Galleries

Full Archive

Two gay swimmers are best friends and each other’s rock

By

Axel Reed and Josh Velasquez

Apr 18, 2017, 12:24am PDT

Share
All sharing options for:
Two gay swimmers are best friends and each other’s rock

Reddit
(opens in new window)

Pocket
(opens in new window)

Flipboard
(opens in new window)

Email
(opens in new window)

“I realized the hard part wasn't telling people, it was the lonely, dark place I put myself in.”
“I’ve had such hard time coming to terms with my sexuality because I was scared that my family would hate me because homosexuality is a sin.”
“Swimmers have a special connection, and that was the reason we clicked.”

FanPosts

FanShots

Masthead

Community Guidelines

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Horizontal - White

Contact

Have a News Tip?

Browse Blogs

About SBN

Company Blog

Blog Openings

Editorial Ethics and Guidelines

Vox Media Vox Media
Vox Media logo.

Terms of Use

Privacy Notice

Cookie Policy

Do Not Sell My Personal Info

Licensing FAQ

Accessibility

Platform Status

Advertise with us

Jobs @ Vox Media

© 2022 Vox Media , LLC. All Rights Reserved

Sports data © STATS 2018

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy . Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use , which became effective December 20, 2019.
By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.
Axel Reed and Josh Velasquez formed a bond while coming out.
We’re two swimmers and best friends, both in college, who happen to be gay. We came out to each other via text, and our bond and friendship has only grown. We don’t know where each of us would be without the other. We wanted to share our stories.
Axel Reed, will graduate this spring from Chapman University in Orange County, Calif., where he was a swimmer. He previously swam at Villanova. Josh Velasquez attends the University of Arizona. He went there hoping to swim, but an injury cut short his career.
Before we tell you the story of how two gay swimmers helped each other come out, we want to share some background about each of us.
Growing up in Trabuco Canyon, in Orange County, Calif., going to church on Sunday and having chapel twice a week at my elementary and middle school definitely was a challenge.
I always knew there was something different about me from my friends. A difference that was hard to comprehend because I grew up being taught that men were essentially programmed to marry women and that is how the world works. But that wasn’t how I was programmed. I was always good at hiding my emotions and pushing my feelings deep inside, so I had no problem hiding that I was gay until high school.
High school was four years of confusion, depression, anxiety and all other emotions you feel when you’re hiding who you are every day. On top of everything else I was a competitive swimmer, a sport known for being “more gay” because my uniform was a tiny piece of fabric just large enough to cover “my stuff” and I went to a private, Catholic high school.
Swimming was my outlet, my distraction and my excuse. I dated a few girls, but never anything too serious. I would consistently use training as an excuse to not date. At the same time swim practice meant lying to my coach and teammates — the people I called my family. I was afraid of telling my teammates that I was gay because I feared they would look at me differently or my guy friends would distance themselves.
My freshman year of college at Villanova, I told myself, “it's four years, just fake it” because now that I was a Division I swimmer I really thought I couldn’t be out. That was not the case. As much as I tried to hide my boyfriend during freshman year from my teammates, it was inevitable they were going to find out.
I started by telling my small group of close swim friends and then let the word spread to the rest of the team. Everyone was supportive and later on in the year two of my other teammates ended up coming out as well. It was a pretty amazing experience. When I transferred to Chapman for
Bbw Slut Stories
Moon Bloodgood Nude
Sex Bondage Stories

Nude Boy Swimmers

Report Page