A naturist’s view on swimming

“Nude” swimming

It’s so odd if you think about it. Nude swimming. Who in their right mind would put on clothes to go swimming?

Oh. Right. People would do this.

On your left you see original Victorian bathing suits. Can you imagine the agony of having to haul all that around while you’re trying to swim?

I’ve researched this for my book ‘The Unsworth Manor Nudes‘ (available on Amazon) and not only did they have these amounts of cloth hanging around them, the ladies even utilized ‘bathing machines’. Wagons that rolled into the water so people couldn’t see any skin (what skin?).

My first time

The first time I swam au naturel was at a sauna-like place. They had heated pools inside and out, and I went there with a few friends in the middle of a serious winter. The sensation was incredible, especially when getting out of the water. I’m sure that most nude-swimmers will understand and recognise that. If ever you have the opportunity to do this, do it. Swimming outside when there’s snow all around is incredible.

Skinny dipping

Another expression I wonder about is ‘skinny dipping’. I call that swimming. Putting on clothes to swim is just odd. Nobody will wonder what you’re trying to conceal beneath those bits of fabric. The only proper way to swim is still naked, as far as I’m concerned. Getting out of the water with wet fabric hanging off you (and showing everything that’s beneath it very often!) feels bad and cold.

Anyone in favour of swimwear? Please let me know the big advantage of it!

Skinnydipping in Pow — The Naked Ski Segment We All Need to See | Mountain Life Annual | Because Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Skinnydipping in Pow — The Naked Ski Segment We All Need to See | Mountain Life Annual | Because Actions Speak Louder Than Words.

Naturist beach visit

Today it’s very warm. It’s still warm as I write this, 31c / 88F. This afternoon I took some time to go to our local nude beach to relax, get some sunshine and try to finish the book I am reading, So far I have tried that 6 times, but there are always kind and friendly people at the beach and it’s really pleasant to talk with them.

Some nude beach
Note that this is not our nude beach. I wish!

It’s impressive to find out what people visit our little beach. Last time I met someone who makes his own exclusive wine. This time I talked to a lady who has travelled all over the world and spends the winter in South Africa.

As it was so very warm and muggy, a small group decided to go for a swim. I was with them – for the first time as I’m not much of a swimmer. The water was still quite cold, several people were a bit hesitant to go in, but it was by far not as cold as the sea in which I went skinnydipping for the world record. It was great to swim naked (I know, but it’s a nice surprise every time I do it), and I think we scared a few people who were rowing a boat along when they discovered they had reached the nude beach.

As we were back on the grass to dry up, one of my fellow swimmers looked at me and said he’d seen me on TV, in a short report on the news about the skinnydip attempt. Apparently it was only a fraction of a second but I have a few unique tattoos which was how he recognised me. I should try to locate that footage, would be fun!

No new world record skinny dipping

Yesterday I participated in an attempt for a new world record skinny dipping. Unfortunately we had far too few people at the beach: we needed at least 414 and there were only 153 people there. I think it was because a) the attempt was planned on a Friday afternoon (weekend days usually are much better for that), and b) because of the poor weather (water temperature was 10c/50F).

Still, those that had come went into the water (after waiting for a while, hoping for more participants) because that was what we had come for:

skinnydip zandvoort 2013
Skinnydip Zandvoort, June 2013

(Original image and more at www.naakstrand.info. Used with permission.)

Below a short clip (in Dutch) from the newspaper Haarlems Dagblad about the event: