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. The first recreational indoor pool in america was a ymca in brooklyn new york in 1885. 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.
Locations - Arlington-Mansfield Area YMCA
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. Were families allowed to watch boys swim naked at the ymca before the 70s Ask question asked 3 years, 1 month ago modified 1 year ago Blog purpose through at least the third quarter of the 20 th century organized nude male swimming was widespread
The practice was mandated or encouraged in public schools, colleges, private organizations like the ymca, boys clubs and the boy scouts and in municipal programs and in informal settings The existence of this largely extinct public practice was well documented in newspaper and. According to my research males were once required to swim in the nude The american public health association mandated nude swimming from 1926 until 1962, and thousands of high schools around the country enforced the tradition
