Every pool I’ve been to my entire life that wasn’t in a backyard has had signs instructing patrons to shower before going in.
It’s been that way since at least the late 70s in the public pools in South Africa.
And of course I do.
My experience using club or hotel pools in Asia and Egypt was that there is usually a rule that you should shower before entering the pool. My experience spans roughly 1994 to 2018.
I didn’t see insanely strict levels of enforcement, but most people seemed to follow those rules. I did, not because I think it is of huge public health importance but because it seems like the polite thing to follow the rules as stated, especially when you can imagine, even if not totally share a belief in, a public health rationale.
I assume that there was a not insignificant level of scofflaw behavior. This did not squick me out. Why would it? In the 1970s I swam in man-made Lake Abanake at Camp Farnsworth in Vermont.. By current standards, that was a festering brew of nasty bacteria. (Indeed, ear infections were not uncommon, and I believe we were told not to join swim classes if we had open wounds of any kind.)
Still, we mostly survived the experience without damage. I guess it’s not the end of the world if our bodies encounter some germs here and there.
Maybe it’s regional? I’ve always seen signs to shower before going on the pool, here in New England. So I always have done so. I assume it’s to wash off all the stuff that rinses right off to do that down the drain and not into the pool. I mean, it takes an extra minute and I was going to get wet anyway, and the sign asks me to. Why wouldn’t I do it?
I can’t recall ever noticing anyone checking or enforcing the rule, but everyone else stepped into the shower, too, as far as I ever noticed.
I’ve noticed it’s a big thing in europe, and in particular France. Many pools have a water walk through also which has disinfectant in it that one must pass through to enter the pool. It is also commonly not permitted to wear anything but approved swimsuits this is to ensure you are not wearing something you might have worn on the street.
In the US/Canada generally not unless I feel I should clean up before entering the pool
In Japan I noticed that it is usually the case that there is a shower/spray area that you must walk through to get to the pool, probably because that is also the protocol you follow as well for public baths.
Regardless of signs, that is usually what I do, though everywhere I can remember, except at a friends house, there were always signs.
//i\\
Here in FL showers and signs are required by the health code. At the condo I run we have an outdoor shower on the pool deck, prominent signage, and near 100% cooperation from our residents.
Realistically, most of what’s being washed rinsed off is sweat & suntan oils. But that stuff is hard on filters. The latent pee & poo particles clinging to people’s nethers are adequately managed by the chlorine.
I go for the shower because a lot of times i am dirty from work or sweaty from another workout. Just a good rinse, but it has become a habit. It also gets me acclimatized to the water temperature. After a brief and slightly warmish shower, I stand on the desk doing a couple of minutes of static and dynamic stretches for my arms and shoulders so that when i jump in the 27.22 C water feels good (81F).
We were supposed to when we had swimming in our jr high (70s) phy-ed class. I don’t think many of us did though.
I’ve never showered before using any other public pool. But I think the only other pools I’ve been in have been hotel pools. And I think I’m done with hotel pools and maybe hotels in general after hearing the horror stories my granddaughter told me when she worked in a hotel. 
When I went to public baths in Japan there were just a lot of individual showers. You were expected to wash fully, with soap, not just rinse before getting into the shared water.
The thing that was most remarkable to me was that the showers were often set up for women to squat while showering, rather than the standing position I’m used to. I stood up anyway, and then put the shower head back in the position I found it in when I was done. No one ever gave me the impression I was doing it wrong, so I think that was okay.
I’m really surprised by all these people in the US who haven’t showered before entering a public pool. I thought that was ubiquitous. Except in hotels… yeah, they don’t even have a shower area, typically. I wonder why not, now that its mentioned.
In my experience going to Canadian public pools, there is usually a sign saying that showering is required, but compliance is spotty. Personally I give myself a five second spray to comply with the request, but that probably accomplishes nothing in real terms.
If there’s an area for me to shower, I shower. I also insist my kids shower. We’re at the pool to get wet anyway and it takes just a minute or two, so the momentary discomfort if it’s cold is no big deal. I usually have product in my hair and I’m assuming no one wants to swim in it.
Oh, I’m the U.S. When I go to the Y, most people shower, but there are also a lot who don’t, which I find kind of gross, since in my experience the vast majority of the people who don’t are those who are coming direct from a cardio/weightlifting workout and drenched in sweat.
This is how it was at the YMCA at least since the early 1980s. When I took swim lessons as a kid the instructors made everyone shower before getting in the pool, and as I mentioned earlier during recreational swim time the lifeguards would send you back to shower if they caught you trying to get in the pool while still dry.
That said, by “shower” I don’t mean a full shower with soap and everything. Just standing under the spray in your swimsuit for 10 seconds to rinse off was considered sufficient. Just as long as your hair and most of your body got wet.
Sure, as long as you rinsed the pee off your legs once you were done - less need for this if squatting 
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I’ve been in community pools in Pakistan, UK, China, Canada and at least six states in the US (California, Missouri, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts). And in hotel pools in many, many more countries and states.
I can’t remember a single one that did NOT have a sign saying that you must shower before entering the pool.
I’m a rule follower, so I always shower. I’ve been to a pool probably thousands of times in 40 years and I can count the number of times I haven’t showered on the fingers of one hand. It’s always been because the locker rooms are closed for some reason.
I’ve even showered when there was no hot water in winter. Shortest shower ever, but I did rinse all over.
Same here. (I am from Romania.)
In the US I feel it’s more common for people to use the showers after they swim, wash off the pool water with it’s chorine and whatever other stuff is in it.
Protip: you can do both!
Of course Americans would do it backwards.
Showering before is a procedure intended to help everyone else by slightly inconveniencing you. Showering afterwards is a procedure intended to help just yourself.
We are so doomed.
Yes. Always. To be granular and blunt about it, fecal coliform lives quite well in swimming pools. The average and even aggressive amounts of chlorine do not kill it, contrary to popular belief .
Best as I can, I shower down before entering a public pool for exactly this reason. If I’m not a part of the solution ( pun intended ), then I’m part of the problem.