Apparently, there was no lifeguard on duty.
From what I gathered from a yahoo group related to this subject, the YMCA in Birmingham, Alabama was the last YMCA to have nude male swimming being required/allowed. I know it was still occurring during the early 1970s, as I was brought there as a child by a father figure and found the nudity to be quite unexpected. I don’t think it lasted much after that (and not because of me, in case you’re wondering).
Interesting thread.
I started swimming at the Y in the early 70’s, in Green Bay Wisconsin. The Y was fully coed at that point and we always wore swim suits, and I don’t recall hearing it was ever otherwise, but who knows? There was no such thing as boys’ swim times and girls’ swim times. The pool hours were divided up among swim team practice hours, swimming lesson hours, and open swims. I think they had “adult swim” periods, when little kids weren’t allowed.
I do remember when we first started using the pool we were required to shower first and they would station a couple of the older boys at the entrance to the pool, right off the shower area. They’d grab your forearm and rub it to see it any dirt came off. If any did, you had to go back to the showers and scrub yourself some more 'til you could pass the dirt test.
Personally, it seems intuitive you’d take your clothes off before getting in water.
YWCAs were all crap and no one used them for much of anything except old ladies sitting around drinking tea or something.
Attitudes have changed about nudity. This may not be correct but, I understand, when YMCAs first came about clorine was not used to keep pool water clean. Also, detergent had not been developed. Swimming suits washed in soap of that era were not germ free and therefore could polute the water. Hence no swimming suites, only clean bodies. I never thought swimming nude an issue. Body parts are body parts. Generally speaking, all men have the same body parts. Furthermore, (I am sorry ladies) but ladies got involved with the YMCAs and they have stiffer attidudes about nudity. Today’s youth have very conservative attitudes about nudity. Please remember that the ancient Greek olympics participants were nude. The human body was though to be beautiful and not to be hiden.
I visited eastern Europe in the 1960’s. Males swam nude in Russia, Poland, Hungary, etc. It was not a sexual thing. It was differnet attitude then.
Today the University of Califronia at San Diego (UCSD) swims nude at Blacks Beach http://blacksbeach.org/
And weren’t women banned from attending?
The most recent conscription in Canada began and ended with the Second World War. In the '50s I was forced ito learn to swim while nude at the main YMCA in Winnipeg, though there were swimming classes at the public pool at the end of my block and two streets over. So IMO the U.S. draft theory doesn’t hold much water.
I hated it. It was like having nightmares of being naked in public, week after week. After a year or so I refused point-blank to go back.
The naivety of the '50s — and of my parents — astounds me when I think about it.
Just thought you’d like to know I’m posting in the nude right now.
“Pictures or it didn’t happen!” 
Oops, too late! I’m dressed now.
Terry Jones, is that you ?
Is this the most-resurrected thread of all time? I counted six, but I might have missed one.
… sorry for the hijack 
This thread just won’t sink, will it?
The comments earlier about gym teachers of dubious proclivities reminds me of ours. No pool, but we had to shower after PE or games, and one teacher was very keen on making sure we were clean and dry. Ah, “Bummer” Barnett, may you rest in peace wherever you are.
Hey, the thread is about nudity, what’s not to like?
This won’t be the last time it’ll be resurrected, I’ll bet you that right now.
If it is, I’ll remove all my clothes, how 'bout that??
Watch out. It’s about children forced to be in the nude in public.
Big deal. “In public” in this context is no more public than a lockerroom. It’s not like nude boys & clothed girls were mixed in the class, or the boys had female teachers, or it was some kind of public swimming contest with everybody’s mothers & sisters in the audience.
The challenge a lot of people have believing that it was indeed mandatory for all boys to participate in swim classes completely naked whereas girls were always clothed is based upon their frame of reference, that is, they are seeing it from the current hyper politically-correct standards and culture of these times. But if they trace the originals back to the 1900s and before, it is clear much of the swimming and rivers, lakes and even public beaches were done in the nude by men, although women were almost always clothed.
In fact, there is historical evidence in far as photographs and rare historical film archives that evidence that in many places around the world, not only did boys swim and “sea-bathe” completely naked, but often in a very public situation and in the immediate presence of girls their age (although the girls were always clothed).
Rather than cite the historic archival evidence, simply go to this site where it is all laid out:
Amazing. I had no idea.
Pullet I think we have an answer…