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. A 1938 bulletin issued by the american public health association reads While it might be unbelievable today, boys were once required to swim nude at ymca pools — yet some recall the experience with no shame.
Facts versus Fiction - Historical Nude Male Swimming Archives - Page 32
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
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. Male nude swimming in the us remained a common practice through the 1950s, but declined in the 1960s due to technological and social changes. 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
The first recreational indoor pool in america was a ymca in brooklyn new york in 1885. 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
