{{Short description|Swimming without clothing}} {{Redirect2|Skinny dip|Skinny dipping|other uses|Skinny dip (disambiguation)|and|Skinny Dipping (disambiguation){{!}}Skinny Dipping}} {{Main|Nudity}} [[File:RAAF 1943 swimming nude.jpeg|thumb| Members of the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] diving into a river, 1943]] '''Nude swimming''' is the practice of [[swimming]] [[nudity|without clothing]], whether in [[Body of water|natural bodies of water]] or in [[swimming pool]]s. "[[wikt:skinny dip|Skinny dipping]]" is a colloquial term for nude swimming.
In prehistory and for much of ancient history, both swimming and bathing were done without clothing. In Western societies into the 20th century, nude swimming was common for men and boys, particularly in male-only contexts; however, swimwear began to be expected in mixed-sex environments. The widespread acceptance of [[naturism]] in many [[Europe]]an countries led to legal recognition of clothing-optional swimming in locations open to the public.
Nude swimming has been depicted in art and in film.
== History == {{See also|History of swimming|History of nudity}} [[File:PaestumTaucher.jpg|thumb|right|Fresco "Tomb of the Diver" – [[Paestum]], [[Italy]] – {{circa}} 470 BCE]] Based upon rock painting found in caves, the human activity of swimming existed for many thousands of years prior to the first civilizations, during which humans were generally naked.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Love |first=Christopher |editor-first1=Christopher |editor-last1=Love |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udKMAQAAQBAJ |title=A Social History of Swimming in England, 1800–1918 |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-97028-6 |section=Introduction |doi=10.4324/9781315869636 |oclc=870592028}}</ref><ref name="Avramidis.2011">{{Cite journal |last=Avramidis |first=Stathis |date=2011-08-01 |title=World Art on Swimming |journal=International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education |volume=5 |issue=3 |doi=10.25035/ijare.05.03.08 |issn=1932-9253 |oclc=8091795673 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[File:De arte natandi libri duo Wellcome L0069817.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration from Everard Digby's ''The Art of Swimming (De Arte Natandi)'' (1587)]]
=== Ancient to early modern === In [[Ancient Egypt]], clothing was symbolic of social status, making adult nudity an indicator of low status or poverty. However, children, even of the upper classes, would be naked until puberty. Manual laborers of either sex would wear a loincloth or skirt unless their tasks included swimming; fishermen and boatmen often being nude.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Goelet |first=Ogden |date=1993 |title=Nudity in ancient Egypt |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/sou.12.2.23202932 |journal=Notes in the History of Art |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.1086/sou.12.2.23202932 |oclc=5543225364 |s2cid=191394390|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
In ancient Rome, clothing also represented social status, but public bathhouses were an exception. Bathhouses might include swimming pools that were located in open courtyards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eliav |first=Yaron Z. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-921643-7 |editor-last=Hezser |editor-first=Catherine |chapter=Bathhouses As Places of Social and Cultural Interaction |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199216437.013.0033 |oclc=670378814 |access-date=2021-03-28 |chapter-url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199216437.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199216437-e-33 |archive-date=2019-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424005248/http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199216437.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199216437-e-33 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Swimming became increasingly unpopular after the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], being viewed by the Christian church as both sinful and unhealthy. In spite of church teaching, swimming and bathing returned in the 12th century, sometimes without segregation of the sexes.<ref name="Swimming">{{Cite book| pages = 92| last1 = Bíró| first1 = Melinda| last2 = Révész| first2 = László| last3 = Hidvégi| first3 = Péter| title = Swimming: History Technique Teaching| isbn=978-615-5297-70-0}}</ref>{{rp|9–10}} Defying the [[Church of England]], [[Everard Digby (scholar)|Everard Digby]]'s book ''The Art of Swimming (De Arte Natandi)'' was published in 1587.<ref name="Digby1587">{{Cite web |trans-title=The Art of Swimming |first=Everard |last=Digby |author-link=Everard Digby (scholar) |title=De Arte Natandi |language=la |date=1587 |access-date=10 May 2019 |url= https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-art-of-swimming-1587/ }}</ref> [[Melchisédech Thévenot]]'s 1696 instruction book, also called ''The Art of Swimming'', was illustrated by 40 [[copperplate etching]]s that showed swimming was normally nude.<ref name="Thévenot">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/artofswimming16900thev/page/n5|title=The Art of Swimming|date=1972|orig-date=1696|author-link=Melchisédech Thévenot|first=Melchisédech |last=Thévenot|publisher=Benjamin Blom|location=New York}}</ref>
Indigenous peoples swimming naked were depicted by colonists in the Americas beginning in the 16th century.<ref name="Avramidis.2011"/>
=== Modern era === ==== Australia ==== In the [[Victorian era]], public baths and swimming pools were built in [[Adelaide]] to address problems of health and safety, but also to reduce the persistence of nude swimming in open waters. Swimming costumes were issued to pool patrons.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/14443050902883405| issn = 1444-3058| volume = 33| issue = 2| pages = 195–208| last = McShane| first = Ian| title = The Past and Future of Local Swimming Pools| journal = Journal of Australian Studies| access-date = 2022-09-16| date = 2009-06-01| s2cid = 153913329| url = https://doi.org/10.1080/14443050902883405| hdl = 1959.3/54144| hdl-access = free| url-access = subscription}}</ref>
==== England ==== Modest clothing for bathing or swimming was not considered until the 15th century, when women began wearing bathing dresses and men linen drawers. In male-only groups, men continued to swim nude in rivers and the sea until the mid-19th century.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1179/cos.1990.24.1.69| issn = 0590-8876| volume = 24| issue = 1| pages = 69–84| last = Rutt| first = Richard| title = The Englishman's Swimwear| journal = Costume| access-date = 2023-03-21| date = 1990-01-01| url = https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.1179/cos.1990.24.1.69| url-access = subscription}}</ref> The Bath Corporation official bathing dress code of 1737 prohibited men and women from swimming nude either in the day or in the night.<ref name="Byrde">{{cite journal| last=Byrde| first=Penelope| title='That Frightful Unbecoming Dress' Clothes for Spa Bathing at Bath| journal=Costume| volume=21| issue=1| pages=44–56| doi=10.1179/cos.1987.21.1.44| issn=0590-8876| year=1987}}</ref>
In the early 1730s, fashionable [[sea bathing]] initially followed the inland health-seeking tradition.<ref name="Travis">{{cite book| last =Travis | first =John | chapter = Sea-bathing from 1730 to 1900| publisher = University of Exeter Press| year =1997 | location = Exeter| title =Recreation and the Sea |editor-first=Stephen |editor-last=Fisher| isbn = 978-0859895408}}</ref>{{rp|12}} Sea bathing resorts modelled themselves on Bath, and provided [[promenade]]s, [[circulating library|circulating libraries]], and [[assembly room]]s.<ref name="Travis" />{{rp|9}} While sea bathing or dipping, men and boys were naked, women and girls were encouraged to dip wearing loose clothing. [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|Scarborough]] was the first resort to provide [[bathing machine]]s for changing. Some men extended this to swimming in the sea, and by 1736, it was seen at [[Brighton]] and [[Margate]], and later at [[Deal, Kent|Deal]], [[Eastbourne]], and [[Portsmouth]].<ref name="Travis" />{{rp|12}}
In England, bathing in the sea by the lower classes was noted in [[Southampton]] by [[Thomas Gray]] in 1764, and in [[Exmouth]] in 1779. In [[Lancashire]], working women and men bathed naked in the sea together in 1795: "Lower classes of people of both sexes made an annual pilgrimage to [[Liverpool]] where they dabbled in the salt water for hours at each tide in promiscuous numbers and not much embarrassing themselves about appearance."<ref name="Travis" />{{rp|11}}
[[File:MermaidsAtBrighton.jpg|thumb|"Mermaids at Brighton" by William Heath, c. 1829, depicts women sea bathing with bathing machines.]] At the beginning of the Victorian period in England, men and boys typically swam naked in the sea near bathing machines that were used by women. Some efforts were made to designate separate beach sections for males and females.{{sfn|Travis|1997|p=15}} An 1842 review of seaside resorts noted that naked men in the sea were a primary attraction for visitors to [[Ramsgate]], including women. The writer finds this no different from women viewing images of nude men in art galleries, near-naked men in the opera, or workers in the water.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age| location=London| date=September 11, 1842| title=The Watering Places – Ramsgate| via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> On the [[River Cherwell]] near the [[University of Oxford]], an area for male nude bathing was known as [[Parson's Pleasure]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/community/memorylane/11413607.Halcyon_summer_days_taking__a_cool_dip_at_Dame___s_Delight/ | title=Halcyon summer days taking a cool dip at Dame's Delight | newspaper=[[Oxford Mail]] | location=UK | date=18 August 2014 | access-date=29 April 2018 }}</ref>
In the latter half of the 19th century, the rise of the influence of Christian [[Evangelical]]s caused arrangements for [[mixed bathing]] to be reassessed. Moral pressures led some town councils to establish zones for the women and men to bathe separately. These areas were not policed; mixed bathing was a popular activity. Resorts attempted to placate the Evangelicals without upsetting traditional bathers.{{sfn|Travis|1997|pp=19-23}} There are very few records of magistrates enforcing the bylaws. In 1895, ''Cosmopolitan'' reported: "At most English resorts, buff bathing is available before eight o'clock in the morning" while [[Brighton]], [[Worthing]], [[Hastings]], [[Bexhill-on-Sea|Bexhill]], [[Bognor Regis|Bognor]] and [[Folkestone]] still tolerated nude bathing at any time of the day, in areas away from the central bathing areas.{{sfn|Travis|1997|p=23}}
However at [[Margate]], the conventions regarding both gender segregation and male nudity were ignored, resulting in what was called "promiscuous bathing"; clothed women in the same location as naked men. Rather than being avoided, beach-goers gathered to enjoy the spectacle, often using telescopes.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Promiscuous Bathing at Margate: Victorian Outrage Over Indecency at the Public Beach| work = Mimi Matthews| access-date = 2026-04-15| date = 2017-05-22| url = https://www.mimimatthews.com/2017/05/22/promiscuous-bathing-at-margate-victorian-outrage-over-indecency-at-the-public-beach/}}</ref>
Drawers, or ''[[caleçon]]s ''as they were called (''fr:caleçon de bain''), came into use in the 1860s. Even then, many protested against them and wanted to remain in the nude. Rev. [[Francis Kilvert]], an English clergyman and nude swimmer, described men's bathing suits coming into use in the 1870s as "a pair of very short red and white striped drawers". Excerpts from Kilvert's diary show the transition in the England of the 1870s from an acceptance of nude bathing to the acceptance of bathing suits. Kilvert describes "a delicious feeling of freedom in stripping in the open air and running down naked to the sea."<ref>{{cite book|last=Cinder|first=Cec |title=The Nudist Idea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0upAAAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Ultraviolet Press|isbn=978-0-9652085-0-5|location=Riverside, California| pages=331–333}}</ref>
In 1895, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', [[London Evening Standard|''Standard'']], ''[[Daily Graphic (UK)|Daily Graphic]]'' and ''[[Daily Mail]]'' newspapers ran a campaign to reintroduce mixed bathing in all resorts, pointing out that its prohibition split up families and encouraged them to take their holidays abroad. Commercial pressure defeated the moral pressures. Sea bathing had ceased to be done for health reasons and was done overwhelmingly for pleasure. As the segregated beaches in town disappeared, bathing costumes for men became part of the commercial package, and nude bathing ceased.{{sfn|Travis|1997|pp=23, 29}} [[File:Waterrats by Francis Sutcliffe 1.jpg|thumb|"Water Rats", Francis Sutcliffe, 1886]]
The introduction of mixed bathing throughout Europe and elsewhere certainly created pressure towards bathing costumes being worn by both genders. However, well into the latter days of the Victorian Era, whereas all females were routinely wearing modest bathing attire, many boys well into their teens in Victorian England, even when in a mixed gender setting, were still swimming and playing at the beach resorts completely naked. An article published on August 23, 1891, in the ''Syracuse Sunday Herald'' suggests naked boys of up to 15 years in age were problematic for American parents with daughters, and read:
{{blockquote|A 'Bewildered American' writes to the London Standard that he can't take his little girl to play in the sand at a British seaside resort without her being surrounded by crowds of naked boys. An English friend told him that they let their daughters play with naked boys of ten years of age, but draw the line at fifteen.<ref>{{cite news | author =<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title =A "Bewildered American" | url = https://newspaperarchive.com/us/new-york/syracuse/syracuse-sunday-herald/1891/08-23/page-4 | newspaper =The Sunday Herald | location =Syracuse |page=4 col B | date =August 23, 1891 | access-date =15 Aug 2014 | ref = {{sfnref|The Sunday Herald|August 23, 1891}} }}</ref>}}
====South Africa==== From 1873, the [[East London, South Africa|East London]], [[Eastern Cape]] town council promulgated measures to control swimming hours, apparel and especially separate swimming areas for men and women. These regulations were too conservative and constraining for the taste of the residents of this coastal town and for several decades they were the subject of legal battles, or were simply ignored. The dispute was finally settled in 1906 when mixed bathing was permitted with the proviso that both men and women should wear suitable swimming costumes.<ref>{{Cite journal | title = Bathing habits in Victorian East London. | last= Tankard|first= Keith | journal= Contree | date = 1992 | volume= 32| issue=32 | page= 6| doi= 10.4102/nc.v32i0.582| access-date = 2014-08-15 | url = http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/5471/No_32%281992%29_Tankard_K.pdf?sequence=1 | format=pdf }}</ref>
== 20th century ==
Since the early 20th century, the [[naturism|naturist]] movement has developed in western countries, seeking a return to non-sexual nudity when swimming and during other appropriate activities.<ref name=BNWeb >{{Citation | title = British Naturism (BN)|journal = British Naturism | url = http://www.bn.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_Id=3| issn= 0264-0406 |access-date = 2011-08-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331110705/http://www.bn.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_Id=3|archive-date=2012-03-31}}</ref>
===Canada=== In the late 19th to early 20th century, using tax revenue to provide public bathing facilities for working-class men was not politically popular in [[London, Ontario]], while private establishments served the middle and upper classes. These included swimming at the [[YMCA]], which required membership or payment of fees. However, the problem of men being publicly naked while swimming and bathing in open water was recognized. Efforts to regulate nude swimming with laws against doing so during daylight hours did not prevent increases in incidents in the 1860s through the 1880s by laborers and boys.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/09523360500143422| issn = 0952-3367| volume = 22| issue = 5| pages = 796–815| last = Kossuth| first = Robert S| title = Dangerous Waters: Victorian Decorum, Swimmer Safety, and the Establishment of Public Bathing Facilities in London (Canada)| journal = The International Journal of the History of Sport| access-date = 2022-09-16| date = 2005-09-01| s2cid = 145727819| url = https://doi.org/10.1080/09523360500143422| url-access = subscription}}</ref>
In the 19th century, boys and working-class men in [[Toronto]] swimming nude in the Humber and Don Rivers was allowed in secluded swimming holes, while officially prohibited elsewhere. "[[wikt:skinny dip|Skinny dipping]]" (a colloquial term for nude swimming)<ref name="bare" /> was seen by many as an innocent activity for young males, as long as it did not intrude upon the sensibilities of females. In the 20th century, urban growth had encroached upon this isolation, and also created the problem of water pollution. The development of beaches in the [[Sunnyside, Toronto|Sunnyside]] district on the Lake Ontario waterfront marked the end of nude outdoor swimming.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = Univ. of Manitoba Press| isbn = 978-0-88755-951-8| last = Barbour| first = Dale| title = Undressed Toronto: From the Swimming Hole to Sunnyside, How a City Learned to Love the Beach, 1850–1935| year = 2021}}</ref>
As in the United States, men swam nude at YMCAs<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 9–10| title = Herald-YMCA Swimming Classes For Boys Start Here Next Monday Expect Big Registration This Year For Four-Week Long Instruction| work = Calgary Herald| location = Calgary, Alberta, Canada| date = 1940-07-17 |quote=The boys swim "in the raw." But you must bring a towel, and a piece of soap. That's all they ask of you.}}</ref> until they became coed.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 24| title = Canada men swimming nude at the YMCA until women joined| newspaper = The Leader-Post| location = Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada| access-date = 2022-09-17| date = 1977-09-29| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26814144/canada-men-swimming-nude-at-the-ymca/| archive-date = 2022-10-24| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221024230818/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26814144/canada-men-swimming-nude-at-the-ymca/| url-status = live}}</ref>
===China=== In 2004 after some local university students went skinny dipping there, signs were placed at a riverside beach in a public park in [[Zhejiang]] province declaring a section to be a nudist beach. Following complaints from other park visitors, the signs were removed, although officially China has no law forbidding swimming nude.<ref>{{Cite news| page = 11| last = Coonan| first = Clifford| title = Chinese nudists are told to take cover| newspaper = The Times (United Kingdom)| location = Beijing| date = 2004-08-10}}</ref> In a July 2005 heat wave, a number of incidents of men skinny dipping were noted.<ref>{{Cite news| title = Skinny Dippers; Bit Cheeky for China| newspaper = The Gold Coast Bulletin| date = 2005-07-30}}</ref> ===England=== [[File:Dame Laura Knight - Boys- 1910.jpg|thumb|[[Laura Knight]] - "Boys" - Cornwall, 1910. Naked boys casually lounging and playing in sea with dressed girls.]] In English boys' schools ([[Manchester Grammar School]], for example), students recall nude swimming being required at least from the 1930s until the 1970s. No official reason for the practice was given, but some mention the problem in the early years of fibres from wool swimsuits clogged pool filters. However, nude swimming continued when modern swimsuit materials were available.<ref>{{Citation | last = Cohen| first = Michael| title = Swimming Naked| journal = The Old Mancunian | date = September 2005| url = http://www.oldmancunians.org/html/news/current/TOM%20September%202005.pdf | access-date = 2007-11-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305042811/http://www.oldmancunians.org/html/news/current/TOM%20September%202005.pdf|archive-date=2012-03-05|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Swimming Naked at MGS| journal = The Old Mancunian | date = December 2005| url = http://www.oldmancunians.org/html/news/current/TOM%2021December%202005.pdf | access-date = 2021-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617075417/http://www.oldmancunians.org/html/news/current/TOM%2021December%202005.pdf|archive-date=2012-06-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In a less formal setting, young boys might be nude in mixed company, as shown in a home movie of an outing featuring young Brownies, Girl Guides and Scouts playing in the grounds of a stately home in 1940s Britain. While the girls and older boys wore suits, the boys of about 10 years of age played in the river naked.<ref>{{Cite AV media| title = Amateur home movie film made in the summer of 1945 or later | website=Huntley Film Archives| access-date = 2024-01-26| date = 1945| url = https://www.huntleyarchives.com/preview.asp?image=1001739}}</ref>
{{Gallery | title = Children swimming in early 20th century England | align = | footer = | style = | state = | height = 180 | width = | captionstyle = | File:Boys nude and girls in suits - early 20th century.jpg | alt1=Boys nude and girls in suits - 1910 | In England, boys swimming nude and girls in suits, 1910 |File:GettyImages-3289256.jpg| alt2=Boys swimming nude in Regents canal during a heatwave in 1911 |Boys swimming nude in [[Regents canal]] during a heatwave, 1911| File:Trafalgar Square, c. 1912 boys and girls swimming.jpg | alt3=Trafalgar Square, c. 1912 boys and girls swimming | Naked boys, clothed girls in [[Trafalgar Square]], c. 1912
| File:Boys swimming nude - c 1914.jpg
| alt4=Boys swimming nude - 1914 | Swim class for boys, England, c. 1914 | File:Two nude boys walking down road to swimming hole - 1919.jpg|Two nude boys walking down road to a swimming hole, 1919|File:GettyImages-2643601.jpg|A group of naked boys jumping into a lake in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] during a heat wave, 1920|alt5=Two nude boys walking down road to a swimming hole|alt6=A group of naked boys jumping into a lake in Hyde Park during a heat wave in 1920}} ===Germany=== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1983-0815-302, FKK-Strände des Senftenberger Erholungsgebietes.jpg|thumb|Nude swimmers at [[Lake Senftenberg]], [[East Germany]], 1983]] Mixed gender nude swimming in lakes, rivers and beaches following [[World War I|WWI]] was part of the [[Weimar culture|social liberalization]] in the [[Weimar Republic]]. Some swimmers were part of the organized [[Freikörperkultur|naturist movement]], others sought only an escape from economic and political turmoil. Economic problems had eliminated support for swimming pools and other recreational facilities, these needs being replaced by "wild swimming" in natural bodies of water.<ref name="Clendening">{{Cite thesis| publisher = University of California, Davis| degree = PhD| last = Clendening| first = Logan| title = Swimming in Disputed Waters: Gender, Race, Religion, and Contested Bodies in Modern Germany| location = United States -- California| access-date = 2023-07-25| date = 2019| url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/2272842071| id = {{ProQuest|2272842071}}| archive-date = 2024-12-11| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20241211055715/https://www.proquest.com/docview/2272842071| url-status = live}}</ref>
In planning for the [[1976 Summer Olympics]] in Montreal, the West German swim coach suggested that men's events be nude, which cut seconds from their times. The suggestion was not taken seriously by Olympic officials.<ref>{{Cite news| page = D3| title = Nudity Out At Olympics| newspaper = The Washington Post, Times Herald| location = Washington, D.C., United States| access-date = 2024-04-20| date = 1973-09-19| url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/148398687| id = {{ProQuest|148398687}}}}</ref>
===Greece=== In the 1870s, sea bathing at the Athenian seafront was an activity dominated by working class men who swam naked. With the beginning of the 20th century, resorts for the middle class were established, a transition which was at odds with male nudity. This was dealt with by having separate male and female bathing areas, but these became difficult to enforce. In the 1910s, mixed gender bathing began, and became actual swimming away from shore rather that wading. Female beach attire became "semi-nude" by the standard of prior years, exposing women's arms and legs.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/1755182X.2022.2128903| issn = 1755-182X| volume = 14| issue = 2| pages = 143–166| last = Yannitsiotis| first = Yannis| title = Bodies at the beach: sea bathing on the Athenian seafront, 1870–1940| journal = Journal of Tourism History| access-date = 2023-01-21| date = 2022-05-04| s2cid = 253171302| url = https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2022.2128903| url-access = subscription}}</ref>
===United States=== [[File:Nude girl swiming in lake1942 crop.jpg|thumb|right|A girl swimming nude in a lake in 1942]] The 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries saw the rise of a [[subculture]] of boys and young men who swam nude in any available [[body of water]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Contested Waters: a Social History of Swimming Pools in America |date=2007 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-8898-8 |editor-last=Wiltse |editor-first=Jeff |location=Chapel Hill}}</ref> This extended to well-known historical figures; [[Benjamin Franklin]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=American politicians who loved skinnydipping |url=https://www.upi.com/blog/2012/08/20/American-politicians-who-loved-skinnydipping/8511345475085/|date=August 20, 2012 |access-date=October 29, 2025 |work=UPI}}</ref> and [[John Quincy Adams]] were known to skinny dip.<ref name="Cain2017">{{Cite web |last=Cain |first=Áine |date=February 21, 2017 |title=The 6th US president rose before dawn for his favorite morning habit: skinny-dipping |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/john-quincy-adams-skinny-dipping-routine-2017-2?IR=T |access-date=May 3, 2019 |work=Business Insider}}</ref> [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]] described nude swims in the [[Potomac River|Potomac]] with his "tennis cabinet" in his ''Autobiography'': "If we swam the Potomac, we usually took off our clothes".<ref>{{cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Roosevelt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwHCAwAAQBAJ |title=Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography |publisher=Floating Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-77653-337-4}}</ref>
As towns such as [[Logan, Utah]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=1893-08-16 |title=Local Points |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/logan-journal-aug-16-1893-p-15/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |newspaper=Logan Journal |pages=15}}</ref> [[Humboldt, Iowa]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=1893-08-03 |title=Humboldt |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/humboldt-county-independent-aug-03-1893-p-8/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |newspaper=Humboldt County Independent |location= |page=8}}</ref> and [[Dixon, Illinois]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=1890-07-10 |title=(Editorials) |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/dixon-evening-telegraph-jul-10-1890-p-1/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |work=Dixon Evening Telegraph |location=Dixon, Illinois |pages=1}}</ref> grew in the 1890s, the traditional locations became more visible to the public, and local ordinances were implemented prohibiting nude swimming, but were difficult to enforce, or involved very young children who did not receive punishment.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1895-06-28 |title=Hatton Knows His Business |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/wichita-daily-eagle-jun-28-1895-p-5/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |work=Wichita Daily Eagle |page=5}}</ref> Local ordinances often prohibited nude swimming, but they frequently went unenforced or involved very young children who did not receive punishment.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1895-06-28 |title=Wichita Daily Eagle Newspaper Archives, Jun 28, 1895, p. 5 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/wichita-daily-eagle-jun-28-1895-p-5/ |access-date=2026-01-14 |website=NewspaperArchive.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1850, [[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] addressed the issue of both men and women swimming nude in the [[Grand River (Michigan)|Grand River]] by passing an ordinance allowing the activity only at night, between 8{{nbsp}}pm and 5{{nbsp}}am.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 30, 1922 |title=Nude Bathing Was O.K. Back in 1850-at Night: But Woe Unto the Undraped Daylight Swimmer |newspaper=The Detroit Free Press |page=D1}}</ref> In 1907, [[Nashville, Tennessee]] deputy sheriffs took no action to stop men and boys from swimming nude in the [[Cumberland River]] outside of populated areas.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 July 1907 |title=Hot Weather Makes Swimming Popular |work=[[The Nashville Tennessean]] |pages=4}}</ref>
The 1927 California Channel Swim between [[Santa Catalina Island (California)|Catalina Island]] and the mainland was declared clothing optional by the sponsor, [[William Wrigley Jr.|William Wrigley]]. Two Black American swimmers stated their intention to swim nude, as did several other women, saying the suits available were a handicap.<ref>{{cite news | title=Two Colored Natators Enter California channel Swim | last=Perry | first=George | newspaper=Afro-American | date=January 8, 1927 | page=14 }}</ref> In the 1927 Lake George 24 mile marathon, suits were optional if swimmers chose to cover their bodies with grease.<ref>{{Cite news| page = 16| title = Starting Time of Lake George Race Has Been Changed| work = The Post-Star| location = Glen Falls, New York| date = 1927-07-07}}</ref>
Outdoor nude swimming in isolated American [[Summer camp|summer camps]] also existed as a socially accepted practice usually, but not always, segregated by gender.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seton |first=Ernest Thompson |title=Trail of an Artist-Naturalist: The Autobiography of Ernest Thompson |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-405-10734-4 |pages=297}}</ref> [[Ernest Thompson Seton]] describes skinny dipping as one of the first activities of his [[Woodcraft Indians]], a forerunner of the [[Scouting|Scout movement]], in 1902.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Seton| first = Ernest Thompson | title = Trail of an Artist Naturalist| place= London| publisher = Hodder and Stoughton| year = 1951| page = 297 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8MPjOwAACAAJ| isbn = 978-0-405-10734-4}}</ref> A 1937 article on swimming at [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scout]] [[Summer camp|summer camps]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] makes no mention of the boys being naked in almost all the photographs. Descriptions of special "carnival" days that were coed did not mention whether swimsuits were available. It does state "Both boys and girls enjoy the thrill of swimming in the nude, so on occasion, suits may be discarded for the night plunge." Night swimming was allowed only in camps where this was safe.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/23267240.1937.10619786| issn = 2326-7240| volume = 8| issue = 6| pages = 360–392| last = Torney| first = John A.| title = Swimming and Lifesaving Program for Summer Camps| journal = The Journal of Health and Physical Education| access-date = 2022-09-25| year = 1937| url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23267240.1937.10619786| url-access = subscription}}</ref> In 1937, boys swimming nude in creeks of Atlanta, Georgia received only warnings.<ref>{{cite news| title=Ol' Swimming Hole Ain't What She Was | newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution | date=June 17, 1937 | page=24}}</ref>
An editorial mentions the removal of forests in rural [[Vermont]] being that sheltered ponds where boys had been swimming naked for 200 years during the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news| pages = 6| title = When "Our Town" becomes "their" town| newspaper = Bennington Banner| location = Bennington, Vermont.| access-date = 2022-10-15| date = 1971-05-01| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/bennington-banner-may-01-1971-p-6/}}</ref> Older residents of [[Duncanville, Texas]], remembered the "Blue Hole" on Ten Mile Creek a few hundred feet west of Main Street as the place to skinny dip for decades. In 1967, misbehavior including drinking, fighting, and accidents led to complaints and calls to make the place off-limits.<ref>{{Cite news| title = 'Blue Hole' Favorite Swimming Place for Youngsters| newspaper = Duncanvillite| page = 1| access-date = 2022-10-12| date = 1967-04-27| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/duncanvillite-apr-27-1967-p-1/| archive-date = 2022-10-13| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221013154738/https://newspaperarchive.com/duncanvillite-apr-27-1967-p-1/| url-status = live}}</ref>
{{Gallery | title = Outdoor nude swimming in early America | align = | footer = | style = | state = | height = 180 | width = | captionstyle = |File: 1005000176-l.jpg| alt1=Boys take off their clothes for nude swimming in the Mississippi River in Wisconsin in 1900 |Boys take off their clothes for nude swimming in the [[Mississippi River]] in [[Wisconsin]] (1900)|File:Pr00123.jpg| alt2=Two boys prepare to dive into a lake near Gainesville, Florida around 1900) | Two boys prepare to dive into a lake near [[Gainesville, Florida]] ({{circa}}1900) |File:A_Swimming_hole,_Lester_Park,_Duluth,_Minn.jpg| alt3=A group of children swim nude in Duluth, Minnesota in 1904 |A group of children swim nude in [[Duluth, Minnesota]] (1904)|File:City children - bathing (nude in East) River, N.Y. City LCCN2002715640.jpg| alt4=Children swimming nude in the East River in New York City around 1908 | Children swimming nude in the [[East River]], [[New York City]] ({{circa}}1908)|File:POSTCARD photo SKINNY DIPPING FARM BOY & MAN California.jpg| A nude boy jumping into an [[Irrigation|agricultural ditch]] in [[California]] ({{circa}} 1910)|File:Nude Swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys.jpg|Nude swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys in [[Wiley, Georgia]] (1925)|alt5=A nude boy jumping into an agricultural ditch in California around 1910|alt6=Nude swimming at Camp Dixie for Boys in Wiley, Georgia in 1925}} ====Swimming in indoor pools==== {{main|Nude swimming in US indoor pools}}
As urbanization in the [[Northern United States]] brought outdoor nude swimming into public view, cities and towns responded by constructing swimming pools that continued the practice indoors.<ref name=":0" /> American [[YMCA|YMCAs]] had nude swimming from the 1890s until gender desegregation in the 1960s.<ref name="YMCA">{{Cite web | title = YMCA of Greater Seattle – Part 3: Readjustment, 1930-1980 | first= Cassandra | last=Tate | website=History Link: The Free Encyclopedia of Washington State History| date = 14 March 2001| access-date = October 17, 2022| url = http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=3100}}</ref> The unavailability of chlorination encouraged nude swimming in indoor swimming pools to maintain hygiene. In 1933, all bathers needed to urinate and shower before entering the pool nude.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1002/j.1551-8833.1933.tb18220.x| issn = 0003-150X| volume = 25| issue = 1| pages = 124–135| last1 = Horwood| first1 = M. P.| last2 = Gould| first2 = B. S.| last3 = Shwachman| first3 = H.| title = Indices of the Sanitary Quality of Swimming Pool Waters| journal = Journal – American Water Works Association| access-date = 2022-09-13| year = 1933| bibcode = 1933JAWWA..25a.124H| url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1551-8833.1933.tb18220.x| url-access = subscription}}</ref> In 1940, health experts continued to favor boys wearing bathing suits only in pools visible to both sexes. Girls wore cotton suits that could be boiled to disinfect them between uses; wool suits that had previously been used in salt water could not be washed effectively because salt prevents soap from lathering.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/23267240.1940.10623710| issn = 2326-7240| volume = 11| issue = 1| pages = 25–63| last = Manheimer| first = Wallace A.| title = Reducing Health Hazards in the Swimming Pool| journal = The Journal of Health and Physical Education| access-date = 2022-09-13| year = 1940| url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23267240.1940.10623710| url-access = subscription}}</ref> In 1926, the [[American Public Health Association]] (APHA) standards handbook recommended that indoor swimming pools used by men adopt nude bathing policies and that indoor swimming pools used by women require swimsuits "of the simplest type".<ref>{{cite journal| journal= American Journal of Public Health| volume=16| issue=12| pages = 1186–1201| last = Gage| first = Stephen| title = Swimming Pools and Other Public Bathing Places| date = 1926|doi = 10.2105/AJPH.16.12.1186|pmid = 18012021|pmc = 1321491}}</ref> Swimming pool owners discouraged boys from bringing their own swimming suits because the institutions could not control decontamination.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/23267240.1941.10620207| issn = 2326-7240| volume = 12| issue = 4| pages = 242–279| last = Craig| first = H. W.| title = Safety and Hygiene in the School Swimming Pool| journal = The Journal of Health and Physical Education| access-date = 2022-10-29| date = 194| url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23267240.1941.10620207| url-access = subscription}}</ref>
In 1947, girls at the Liberty School in [[Highland Park, Michigan]], also swam nude in their classes. As boys had not worn suits for years, girls requested to do the same to give them more time in the pool by eliminating changing. After six weeks, officials ordered the girls in the middle school to wear suits, but the elementary school girls continued to swim nude. While following the wishes of parents who believed older girls should behave modestly, all the board members disagreed, stating that there was "no moral issue involved".<ref>{{cite news| title=Nude Swimming in Detroit School Comes Under Ban | newspaper=The News-Palledium| date=January 16, 1947 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| title = Rules Girls Must Wear Swim Suits: School Board at Detroit Acts After Mothers Protest| newspaper= Iowa City Press Citizen | date= January 15, 1947| page=1| location = Highland Park, Michigan| access-date = 2022-04-29| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/iowa-city-press-citizen-jan-15-1947-p-1/}}</ref>
White residents often excluded African Americans from these nude swimming locations through a [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] claim stating that African Americans served as [[Disease vector|disease vectors]] and could easily transmit [[Infection|infectious diseases]] to white Americans. [[Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States|A strict social taboo against interracial relationships]] also prohibited African American men and boys, even if not nude, from swimming in front of white women and girls.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-05-06 |title=Racial History of American Swimming Pools |url=https://www.npr.org/2008/05/06/90213675/racial-history-of-american-swimming-pools |access-date=2026-01-14 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> Several instances of violence erupted when African Americans entered formerly segregated facilities during the [[civil rights movement]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rotenstein |first=David S. |date=2024-06-17 |title=Segregated history of Highland Park Pool highlights 'Pittsburgh's brand of apartheid' |url=https://nextpittsburgh.com/pittsburgh-for-all/segregated-history-of-highland-park-pool/ |access-date=2026-01-14 |website=NEXTpittsburgh |language=en-US}}</ref>
New developments in pool chlorination, filtration, and nylon swimsuits led the APHA to abandon its recommendation of nude swimming for males in 1962.<ref name="WBEZ">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/baring-it-all-why-boys-swam-naked-in-chicago-high-schools/c9a3a9e2-6ae3-404b-80e5-0c4bf4d5a0be|title=Baring It All: Why Boys Swam Naked In Chicago Schools|first=Monica|last=Eng|website=WBEZ.com|date=September 10, 2017|access-date=March 22, 2020|archive-date=June 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190625230153/https://www.wbez.org/shows/curious-city/baring-it-all-why-boys-swam-naked-in-chicago-high-schools/c9a3a9e2-6ae3-404b-80e5-0c4bf4d5a0be|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the custom did not immediately cease. During the 1970s, the adoption of mixed-gender swimming led to the gradual abandonment of nude male swimming in schools. Federal [[Title IX]] rules mandating equality in physical education led most schools to switch to co-educational gym classes by 1980, ending nude swimming in public schools. In the 21st century, the practice has been forgotten, denied having existed, or viewed as an example of questionable behaviors in the past that are no longer acceptable.<ref name="WBEZ" /><ref>{{Citation | ref = {{sfnref|NPR|2006}} | publisher = National Public Radio | date = Aug 1, 2006 | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5597441 | access-date = 2007-11-27 | title = Naked in High School: Bad Dreams Do Come True | archive-date = 2022-11-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221101200019/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5597441 | url-status = live }}</ref> However, Jungian psychoanalyst Barry Miller views the sexualization of nudity in male-only situations such as locker rooms and swimming pools as a loss of a healthy practice.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1080/00332925.2016.1134213| issn = 0033-2925| volume = 59| issue = 1| pages = 93–108| last = Miller| first = Barry| title = On the Loss of Nudity in the Men's Locker Room| journal = Psychological Perspectives| access-date = 2022-10-20| date = 2016-01-02| s2cid = 147364697| url = https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332925.2016.1134213| url-access = subscription| archive-date = 2022-10-24| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221024010331/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00332925.2016.1134213| url-status = live}}</ref>
{{Gallery | title = Indoor nude swimming in 20th century America | align = | footer = | style = | state = | height = 180 | width = | captionstyle = |File:Man_and_woman_swim_instructors_for_boys_-_1902.jpg| alt1=A man and a woman teaching naked boys how to swim in 1902 |Man and woman teaching boys how to swim (1902)|File:City children - bathing for free at the Battery, New York City LCCN92503573.jpg| alt2=Swimming at The Battery in New York City in 1908 |Swimming at [[The Battery (Manhattan)|The Battery]], [[New York City]] (1908)|File:YMCA swim lessons - 1915.png| alt3=A swim lesson in a YMCA in 1915 |A swim lesson in a [[YMCA]] (1915)}}
== 21st century practices == [[File:Nudists at Formentera beach 0240.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Nude man and woman entering the water at Formentera Beach, Spain]] In many countries in the 21st century, nude swimming mostly takes place at nude beaches, naturist facilities, private swimming pools, or secluded or segregated public swimming areas. Some countries around the world strictly enforce various laws against [[public nudity]], including nude swimming. Some jurisdictions which maintain laws against public nudity may ignore incidents of skinny dipping depending on the circumstances.<ref name="bare">{{cite news |last = Goodman |first = J. David |title = Daring Enough to Bare It All for a New York Swim |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/nyregion/daring-enough-to-bare-it-all-for-a-new-york-swim.html |newspaper = [[New York Times]] |date = July 17, 2013 |access-date = 15 Aug 2014 |archive-date = 5 March 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230305223121/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/18/nyregion/daring-enough-to-bare-it-all-for-a-new-york-swim.html |url-status = live }}</ref>
A 2006 [[Elmo Roper|Roper poll]] showed that 25% of all American adults had swum nude at least once, and that 74% believed nude swimming should be tolerated at accepted locations.<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.naturisteducation.org/Projects/NEF-Roper_Poll_2006/nef-roper_poll_2006.html | title = Roper poll online | publisher = Naturist education | year = 2006 | access-date = 2010-02-08 | archive-date = 2012-07-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120729113855/http://www.naturisteducation.org/Projects/NEF-Roper_Poll_2006/nef-roper_poll_2006.html | url-status = dead }}.</ref> Nude swimming is fairly common in rural areas of the United States, where unexpected visitors are less likely. However, in some places, even that type of swimming is prohibited by law. There is no federal law against [[nudity]]. Nude beaches such as [[Baker Beach]] in San Francisco operate within federal park lands in California. However, under a provision called ''[[concurrent jurisdiction]]'', [[federal park ranger]]s may enforce state and local laws against nudity or invite local authorities to do so. Skinny dippers generally deal with this by keeping an eye out for local patrols, who generally do not go out of their way to find violators. Many swimmers in the United States confine nude swimming to private locations due to concerns about attitudes to public nudity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Is it Legal to Go Skinny Dipping in the US? |url=https://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2012/08/is-it-legal-to-go-skinny-dipping-in-the-us.html |website=Findlaw |date=21 August 2012 |access-date=5 May 2019}}</ref>
In Germany, nude bathing is more widespread than in many other countries. A 2014 study revealed Germans (28%) were the most likely of all nations surveyed to have been nude at a beach.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bridge|first=Adrian|date=July 17, 2014 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/germany/articles/Germans-most-likely-to-go-nude/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028222830/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/germany/articles/Germans-most-likely-to-go-nude/ |archive-date=2019-10-28 |title=Germans most likely to go nude|work=The Telegraph}}</ref> As urban rivers in Europe become cleaner, and residents more often seek relief from rising temperatures, many swim or sunbathe nude.<ref>{{Cite news| issn=0362-4331| last=Hockenos| first=Paul| title=A Hotter Climate Demands That We Clean Up Our Rivers for Swimming| work=The New York Times| access-date=2023-07-10| date=2023-07-10| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/10/opinion/climate-change-swimming-clean-rivers-heat-waves.html}}</ref><!--Although in the opinion section due to advocacy, this article contains mainly facts about what people are doing now.-->
The world record for the largest skinny dip—2,505 persons—was set on 9 June 2018 at Meaghermore beach in [[County Wicklow]], Ireland. The record was set at an annual all-women's event known as Strip and Dip, which was created by cancer survivor Deirdre Featherstone. The 2018 event raised money for a national children's cancer charity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/skinny-dipping-world-record-guinness-irish-sea-aoibheanns-pink-tie-a8391866.html|title=Women break Guinness World Record with mass skinny dip in the Irish Sea|date=June 10, 2018|website=The Independent|access-date=October 7, 2019|archive-date=October 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007040204/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/skinny-dipping-world-record-guinness-irish-sea-aoibheanns-pink-tie-a8391866.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Guinness World Record |url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-skinny-dipping-%28swimming-naked%29 |website=Guinness World Record |access-date=27 September 2018}}</ref>
==Artistic depictions== {{gallery| title=Modern representations |File:John Singer Sargent, Neapolitan Children Bathing.jpg|''Neapolitan Children Bathing'' (1879) by [[John Singer Sargent]]| File:Swimming hole.jpg |''[[The Swimming Hole]]'' by [[Thomas Eakins]] (1885) |File:Joaquin Sorolla Ninos A La Orilla Del Mar.jpg| ''Children at the Seashore'' (1903) by Joaquín Sorolla|File:Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida - El baño, Jávea.jpg|''The Bath'', [[Xàbia|Jávea]] (1905) by Joaquín Sorolla depicts the arist's wife and daughters.{{sfn|The Met|2025}}|File:George Bellows - Forty-two Kids, 1907.jpg |Forty-Two Kids by [[George Bellows]] (1907) |File:Running along the Beach by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, 1908.jpg|''Running along the Beach, Valencia'' (1908) by Joaquín Sorolla|File:Emil Krause - Badende børn ved en robåd - 1910.png |Children bathing near a rowboat (1910) by Danish painter Emil Axel Krause (1871-1945)|File:Saturday Evening Post 19 Aug 1911.jpg |''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' cover by [[J. C. Leyendecker]] (August 19, 1911)|Image:The Pursuit - Nudes Swimming by Charles Shannon.jpg|''The Pursuit – Nudes Swimming'' by [[Charles Haslewood Shannon|Charles Shannon]] (1922)}}
Late in the 19th century, painters started to render nude boys and men in realistic settings. [[Daumier]]'s ''Bathers'' shows youths clumsily hauling off their clothes (a symbol of repression) and a naked short stocky youth stepping cautiously into the water that represents freedom. [[Seurat]]'s ''Bathers Asnières'' uses similar symbolism to show the bathers removing their everyday identities to step into the momentary sunlight.<ref name=Walters>{{cite book|last1=Walters|first1=Margaret|title=Nude Male: A New Perspective.|date=1978|publisher=Paddington P. |location=New York and London|isbn=978-0-7092-0871-6|pages=238–252}}</ref>
The bathers in [[Thomas Eakins]]' ''[[The Swimming Hole]]'' each represent different stages in the artist's life. He prepared for this canvas by taking multiple photographs of his students frolicking at this location. The painting portrays a happy physical un-selfconsciousness seen through the perspective of age; a nostalgia for youth. By the 1880s, this nostalgia for youth was a veneer carefully disguising a latent homosexuality. In contrast, there were poets and painters who would contrast the free young beauty of bodies in the water with the approaching grind of maturity and responsibility. [[Henry Scott Tuke]] painted naked bathers in a soft, idealized style, deliberately avoiding overt sexuality.<ref name=Walters/>
[[Cezanne]]'s monumental male bathers derive from memories of a happy childhood rather than direct observation. This was described by his friend [[Emile Zola]] as a time when "they were possessed with the joys of plunging (naked) into the deeper pools where the waters flowed, or spending the days stark naked in the sun, drying them selves on the burning sand, diving in once more to live in the river..."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dorival |first1=Bernard |translator-last=Thackthwaite |translator-first=H. H. A. |title=Cezanne |date=1949 |location=London |publisher=House of Beric |page=63}}</ref><ref name=Walters/>
In later periods, depictions of nude swimming scenes became rarer, but more likely to depict straightforward contemporary scenes. The cover of the August 19, 1911, edition of the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]]'' had a [[Joseph Christian Leyendecker|Leyendecker]] painting of three boys;<ref name=meyer>Meyer, Susan E. "J.C. Leyendecker." In America's Great Illustrators, 136–159. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1978.</ref> the cover of the June 4, 1921, edition had [[Norman Rockwell]]'s painting [[:File:1921-6-4 No Swimming - Norman Rockwell.jpg|''No Swimming'']], depicting boys in various states of undress escaping from the local authorities.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rockwell |first1=Norman |title=No Swimming |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/no-swimming/zAFlWMQ4wZmEqg |website=Google Arts & Culture |publisher=Saturday Evening Post |access-date=5 May 2019 |language=en |date=4 June 1921}}</ref>
==In film== {{further|Nudity in film}} A number of films have included nude swimming scenes, which have received varying reactions from reviewers and the public. === 20th century === * '''1918''' – ''[[Tad's Swimming Hole]]'' was a silent comedy film by [[King Vidor]]; it had frontal shots of nude boys that were censored in some places, including Chicago.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors |journal=Exhibitors Herald |volume=6 |issue=12 |page=29 |publisher=Exhibitors Herald Company |location=New York City |date=March 16, 1918 |url=https://archive.org/stream/exhibitorsherald06exhi#page/n522/mode/1up}}</ref> * '''1933''' – ''[[Ecstasy (film)|Ecstasy]]'', a Czech film directed by [[Gustav Machatý]], was banned in many places and censored in others. The film included a nude swimming scene with [[Hedy Lamarr]] in her film debut.<ref name="Barton">{{Cite book| publisher = University Press of Kentucky| isbn = 978-0-8131-2610-4| last = Barton| first = Ruth| title = Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film| year = 2010| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ypCyObpZaGoC| page=30}}</ref> [[File:Tarzan his mate poster.jpg|thumb|upright|Poster for "Tarzan and His Mate"]] * '''1934''' – ''[[Tarzan and His Mate]]'' featured the female lead (played by a double) swimming nude. However, religious groups lobbied to have the scene removed. Three versions of this movie now exist.<ref name="sin">Vieira, Mark A. (1999), ''Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood'', New York: Harry N. Abrams, p. 180, {{ISBN|0-8109-4475-8}}</ref> * '''1943''' – ''[[Child Bride]]'' featured the female lead, 12-year-old [[Shirley Mills]], swimming nude. It is considered the most notable scene of the film.<ref name=Schaefer>{{cite book|last=Schaefer|first=Eric|title="Bold! Daring! Shocking! True!": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959|year=1999|publisher=Duke University Press|pages=283|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSBZqe0zPaMC&pg=PA283 |isbn=978-0822323747}}</ref> * '''1954''' – ''[[Garden of Eden (1954 film)|Garden of Eden]]'' is a [[nudist film]] directed by [[Max Nosseck]]. In ''Excelsior Pictures v. New York Board of Regents'' the New York State Court of Appeals ruled that onscreen nudity was not obscene, allowing more open depictions of nudity in film.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Jon|title=Hollywood V. Hard Core: How the Struggle Over Censorship Saved the Modern Film Industry|year=2000|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-5142-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/hollywoodvhardco00lewi_0/page/198 198–201]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hollywoodvhardco00lewi_0/page/198}}</ref> * '''1960''' – ''[[The Nudist Story]]'' is a British film directed by Ramsey Herrington set in the Avonmore Sun Camp, with people of all ages swimming in the camp pool.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1c89a3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712003648/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1c89a3|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-07-12|title=The Nudist Story (1960)|work=BFI}}</ref> * '''1960''' – ''[[Pollyanna (1960 film)|Pollyanna]]'' starts with a close-up of the nude [[buttocks]] of a 6-year-old blond boy, played by William Betz, on a rope swing dropping into White Sulfur Springs, [[Santa Rosa, California]]; his mother was an extra on the film.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2258428-181/recollecting-karl-maldens-pollyanna-in |title=Recollecting Karl Malden's Pollyanna in Santa Rosa |newspaper=The Press Democrat |author=Gaye Lebaron |date=10 July 2009 |access-date=1 October 2022 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928060500/http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/2258428-181/recollecting-karl-maldens-pollyanna-in |url-status=live }}</ref> The scene includes several other boys swimming nude in the river.<ref>{{Cite AV media| title = Pollyanna (1960) Opening| access-date = 2024-10-15| date = 2015-02-19| time = 2:58| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwkBbnDVIck}}</ref> * '''1968''' – ''[[Robby (film)|Robby]]'', an American film directed by Ralph C. Bluemke and inspired by the ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'' story. It features the male leads, 8-year-old Robby (Warren Raum) and 10-year-old Friday (Ryp Siani), walking, playing and [[sea bathing]] in the nude together. Several lengthy scenes depict [[full frontal nudity]] and [[rear nudity]] of both boys. The film failed to attain a wide distribution deal, as prospective distributors were wary about the extensive nudity featured in the film.<ref name= FKK49>{{cite news| url= http://www.fkk-museum.de/bilder/278_49.jpg | title= Robby| page=3| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20170904070242/http://www.fkk-museum.de/bilder/278_49.jpg| archivedate= 2017-09-04| date= | publisher= republished online at fkk-museum.de| access-date= 2022-04-05}}</ref> The film was shot on location on [[Vieques Island]] in [[Puerto Rico]], the same island on which ''Lord of the Flies'' was shot five years earlier.<ref name= FKK47>{{cite news| url= http://www.fkk-museum.de/bilder/278_47.jpg | title= Robby| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20170904070242/http://www.fkk-museum.de/bilder/278_47.jpg| archivedate= 2017-09-04| date= | publisher= republished online at fkk-museum.de| access-date= 2022-04-05}}</ref> * '''1969''' – ''[[Age of Consent (film)|Age of Consent]]'', a UK/Australian film by director [[Michael Powell]] which includes an extended scene showing a 24-year-old [[Helen Mirren]] playing a teenage girl and swimming nude underwater in an Australian reef.<ref>Stafford, Jeff [https://web.archive.org/web/20110915174638/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/3772/Age-of-Consent/#articles-reviews "Age of Consent (1969)" (article)] [[TCM.com]] Quote: "Never one to avoid nude scenes, Mirren has several in Age of Consent but they rarely seem exploitive and often provide a striking juxtaposition of the human form against the natural beauty of the Great Barrier Reef – the real star of the film."</ref><ref>Craven, Alison (2016) ''Finding Queensland in Australian Cinema'' Anthem Press. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OLs1DgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Age+of+Consent%22+film&pg=PA58 pp. 58-63] {{ISBN|978-1783085507}}. Quote: "This relationship is taken further from that of the hunter when [Cora (Helen Mirren)] agrees to swim around underwater naked so that Bradley Morahan (James Mason), on artist who has settled on the island, can paint her. ... As Bradley's attention is more to the canvas then her body, the 'relationship conveyed is one that appears to be "innocent"'"</ref> * '''1971''' – ''Christa'' is a Danish film directed by [[Jack O'Connell (filmmaker)|Jack O'Connell]] (renamed ''[[Swedish Fly Girls]]'' in English) about flight attendants sharing an apartment in [[Copenhagen]]. The film features much domestic nudity as well as visits to a nude beach where there are families with children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/08/21/79148621.html?pageNumber=17 | newspaper=New York Times | title=Film: Seeking Mr. Right|date=21 August 1971| page=17 |first= Howard | last=Thompson | access-date=29 Dec 2023}}</ref> * '''1971''' – ''[[Walkabout (film)|Walkabout]]'', an Australian/British film directed by [[Nicolas Roeg]], shows actress [[Jenny Agutter]] and actors [[David Gulpilil]] and Luc Roeg swimming nude. The nude swimming scenes are set in several water holes in the Australian outback during an extended time disconnected from civilization.<ref>Gibbs, Patrick (October 8, 1971) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/11211007/walkabout-review-jenny-agutter.html "Walkabout, original 1971 review: 'beautiful'"] ''[[Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' Quote: " one scene in particular being memorable for its lyrical quality when the girl's inhibitions seem finally to be dispersed by the force of nature and she swims nude in a deep rock pool – I've seen nothing so splendid in this line since Helen Mirren rose from the South Seas looking like Juno, only more so."</ref><ref>Hanson, Stuart "Walkabout" in Mills, Jean and Mills, Richard (2002) ''Childhood Studies: A Reader in Perspectives of Childhood'', Routledge. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mISEAgAAQBAJ&dq=Walkabout+swimming+agutter&pg=PA149 p. 149-50] {{ISBN|978-1134611973}}. Quote: "Underlying the film, though, is a view that all children are essentially innocent and pure. This is represented with the white children becoming more comfortable with their bodies, as they strip away their school uniforms, and find their places in nature. The tension here is the developing sensuality that the girl exudes and which is picked up by the Aboriginal boy, especially in the scene where they both swim nude in the rock pool."</ref> * '''1972''' – ''[[The Genesis Children]]'', an [[art film]] directed by [[Anthony Aikman]]. Although it was called "very benign" by the US rating administration, it received an X rating. It has remained controversial ever since because of several lengthy scenes featuring [[full frontal nudity]] and [[rear nudity]] which show a large group of teenage and preteen boys walking, dancing and swimming nude on a beach.<ref>Swisher, Viola Hegyi: "Generating ''The Genesis Children''", ''After Dark'', September 1972, p. 18</ref> * '''1974''' – ''Vang Vir My 'n Droom (The Spots on My Leopard/Catch Me a Dream)'', a South African film directed by Tim Spring from a screenplay written by C.F. Beyers-Boshoff.<ref>{{Cite web| title = The Spots on My Leopard (1974)| work = The Cave of Forgotten Films| access-date = 2024-03-12| url = https://rarefilmm.com/2021/08/the-spots-on-my-leopard-1974/}}</ref> The film features a lengthy opening scene showing the male lead, Robbie de Ridder (Mark Hopley), running, playing and [[sea bathing]] in the nude alongside a [[cheetah]].<ref>{{Cite AV media| title = Vang Vir My N Droom| access-date = 2024-03-12| date = 2020-10-14| time = 3:38| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KscvuW6g-lI}}</ref> * '''1975''' – ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'', an American film directed by [[Steven Spielberg]], features a brief scene showing Chrissie Watkins ([[Susan Backlinie]]) swimming nude in the ocean at night before being killed by a [[great white shark]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qlo6l0VGJNAC&dq=Susan+Backlinie+scene+in+Jaws&pg=PA183 |title=Reel Terror. The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror Films |first=David |last=Konow |year= 2012 |publisher=[[St. Martin's Publishing Group]] |page=183 |isbn=978-1250013590}}</ref> * '''1980''' – ''[[The Blue Lagoon (1980 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]'', an American film directed by [[Randal Kleiser]] based on a novel, features teenaged nudity. In the film, two cousins are shipwrecked on a tropical island. They survive, reach puberty, fall in love, and have a child together.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-blue-lagoon-1980|title=The Blue Lagoon movie review & film summary (1980)|website=www.rogerebert.com|last=Ebert|first=Roger|date=July 3, 1980}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/brooke-shields-reflects-on-underage-nudity-in-the-blue-lagoon-never-again|title=Brooke Shields Reflects on Underage Nudity in ‘The Blue Lagoon’: ‘Never Again’|first=Carrie|last=Wittmer|date=December 21, 2022|website=Glamour}}</ref> The female lead was played by [[Brooke Shields]] (aged 14 at the time), and the male lead was played by 18-year-old [[Christopher Atkins]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Bender |first=Abbey |date=March 4, 2019 |title=Sexualized Innocence: Revisiting The Blue Lagoon |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/sexualized-innocence-revisiting-the-blue-lagoon |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405092825/https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/sexualized-innocence-revisiting-the-blue-lagoon |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |access-date=February 27, 2020 |website=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref> All of the nude scenes involving Shields's character were performed by the film's 32-year-old stunt coordinator, [[Kathy Troutt]].<ref name=WasPrev>{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Gary |title=Depth Defying |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/07/11/depth-defying/ce8d8555-4921-4b68-9f49-d9bfc7105233/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=June 6, 2018 |date=July 11, 1980 |archive-date=August 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801034519/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/07/11/depth-defying/ce8d8555-4921-4b68-9f49-d9bfc7105233/?noredirect=on |url-status=live}}</ref> Shields performed many of her own [[Toplessness|topless]] scenes with her hair glued to her breasts.<ref>{{cite AV media|title=''The Blue Lagoon'' Special Edition |type=DVD |date=October 5, 1999 |publisher=[[Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group|Columbia TriStar]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/22925/THE-BLUE-LAGOON-1980/|title=The Blue Lagoon|website=Screenarchives.com|access-date=January 7, 2018|archive-date=January 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108062551/http://www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/22925/THE-BLUE-LAGOON-1980/|url-status=live}}</ref> Atkins performed his own nude scenes, which included brief frontal nudity.<ref name=People>{{cite web |last=McMurran |first=Kristin |title=Too Much, Too Young? |date=August 11, 1980 |url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077166,00.html |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |access-date=April 28, 2013 |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630182038/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20077166,00.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/entertainment-news/2009/01/29/christopher-atkins-poster-child-gay-rights-movement|title=Christopher Atkins: Poster Child for Gay Rights Movement?|work=Advocate.com|date=January 9, 2009|access-date=August 23, 2018|archive-date=August 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823210423/https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/entertainment-news/2009/01/29/christopher-atkins-poster-child-gay-rights-movement|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://hollywoodshow.com/starDetail.php?id=3|title=Chris Atkins|work=HollywoodShow.com|access-date=August 23, 2018|archive-date=August 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823210622/http://hollywoodshow.com/starDetail.php?id=3|url-status=dead}}</ref> * '''1991''' – ''[[The Man in the Moon (1991 film)|The Man in the Moon]]'', an American film in which [[Reese Witherspoon]] plays a 14-year-old tomboy who goes skinny dipping in a nearby creek and finds that the long-vacant property is occupied. Witherspoon's character, "Dani", is briefly shown nude from behind running into and then out of the water; this scene was not performed by Witherspoon, but by a double.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Reese Witherspoon remembers 'magical' summer making her first movie—and kissing a boy on screen| first=Maureen Lee | last=Lenker| date=January 29, 2020| url=https://ew.com/movies/2020/01/29/reese-witherspoon-video-first-movie-man-in-the-moon/|magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref>
=== 21st century === * '''2010''' – ''[[Piranha 3D]]'', a 3D comedy horror film which features nude [[Freediving|underwater swimming]] by Danni ([[Kelly Brook]]) and Crystal ([[Riley Steele]]).<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvK4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 |title=Cycles, Sequels, Spin-offs, Remakes, and Reboots: Multiplicities in Film and Television |first1=Amanda Ann |last1=Klein |first2=R. Barton |last2=Palmer |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |year= 2016 |page=110 |isbn=978-1477308172}}</ref> * '''2025''' – ''[[Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc]]'', a Japanese anime film shown Denji and Reze skinny dip in the outdoor pool and she teaches him to swim.
== See also == * [[Naturism]] * [[Nude beach]] * "[[Nightswimming]]" – song by R.E.M. that refers to skinny dipping. * [[Nude recreation]] * [[Public bathing]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite book| publisher = Reaktion Books| isbn = 978-1-78914-577-9| last = Carr| first = Karen Eva| title = Shifting Currents: A World History of Swimming| year = 2022| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ozBsEAAAQBAJ}} * {{Cite book| publisher = Reaktion Books| isbn = 978-1-78023-890-6| last = Chaline| first = Eric| title = Strokes of Genius: A History of Swimming| year = 2017| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mgwDwAAQBAJ}} * {{Cite book| publisher = University of California Press| isbn = 978-0-520-06638-0| last = Corbin| first = Alain| title = The Lure of the Sea: The Discovery of the Seaside in the Western World, 1750-1840| year = 1994| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8PLrGVSKV4sC}} * {{Cite book| publisher = University of Pennsylvania Press| isbn = 978-0-8122-4989-7| last = Dawson| first = Kevin| title = Undercurrents of Power: Aquatic Culture in the African Diaspora| year = 2018}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Nude swimming}} {{wiktionary|skinny-dipper}} * [https://naturistsociety.com/ The Naturist Society] (US) * [http://www.sffb.com/ South Florida Free Beaches] (Haulover Beach Park) * [https://naturisteducation.org/ Naturist Education Foundation] (US)
{{nudity|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:History of swimming]] [[Category:Nude recreation]]