# Old school swimming



## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

An interesting article from the New York Times. Anybody familiar with this practice? Is it really old school? Any places outside New York city where you can swim naked?

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/fashion/thursdaystyles/28nude.html?scp=1&sq=tao+skinny+dipping

If you don't want to post a name here, you can pm me. I gather from the article some folks don't discuss this pubically.

Thanks


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## Ron_A (Jun 5, 2007)

I believe that this practice used to be fairly common at private clubs (like the University Club here in Chicago) before they started admitting women members. Other than the fact that these clubs catered to the old school business elite (many of whom, presumably, dressed in Ivy League style), I'm not sure what this thread has to do with the trad forum.


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## Danny (Mar 24, 2005)

We're discussing an old sartorial style...Garden of Eden trad. 

Danny


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

Although it was before my time, that's my understanding too -- the swimming pools at many of America's elite downtown athletic and university clubs were all-nude and all-male for decades. As the article says, in the 1970s and 80s many of these clubs began admitting women. That forced a change in policies. All-male nude swimming survives at only a few clubs.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

young guy said:


> I gather from the article some folks don't discuss this pubically.


Now there's an interesting Freudian slip...


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## Topsider (Jul 9, 2005)

rojo said:


> Now there's an interesting Freudian slip...


:icon_smile_big:


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## JayJay (Oct 8, 2007)

The Athletic Club in Indianapolis permitted nude bathing until a few years before its recent demise.


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## VC2000 (Feb 10, 2006)

Lyndon Johnson was famous for doing this - he would invite business leaders to the White House and suggest a swim in the indoor pool (now the press room). The leaders were men in those days so...of course nobody had a suit so nude it was - if you wanted to talk with the President in the pool you went. LBJ used it as a form of intimidation - he would "talk" with you by getting very close to you and then back you in the ever deeper end of the pool. He was famous for curling over someone that he was trying to argue a point. Most guests ended up treading water for most of the experience while the taller LBJ standing it the shallow end would expand upon his points. He pushed through many issues doing this not the least of which was civil rights. I never experienced this but I heard the story while working on the Hill from retiring leaders that I trusted. LBJ was supposed to have this glance that he would make at the male member of another male when they got in the pool and he would make a sort of chort laugh that he would use to bring them down a peg...

I have worked with Swiss bankers that have clubs like this - nudity is not that big of deal there. It really is more of an issue of convenience for them. A swimsuit would be wet which would have to be dealt with. I would suspect that in the US is more about keeping alive the privacy of a one gender club.


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## Ron_A (Jun 5, 2007)

VC2000 said:


> Lyndon Johnson was famous for doing this - he would invite business leaders to the White House and suggest a swim in the indoor pool (now the press room).


Interesting anecdote. This seems pretty tame in comparison to what went on in the White House pool during the JFK years.


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## Balkash (Jan 21, 2008)

I hadn't ever heard about this, but I like the idea. I think it would be incredibly relaxing. I would also have to say I agree that without a wet bathing suit, that would make everything much easier.


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## Thom Browne's Schooldays (Jul 29, 2007)

I enjoyed the article, one of those great pieces that remind you how sub-par your local sunday paper is

The practice however, seems a bit silly.


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

young guy said:


> An interesting article from the New York Times. *Anybody familiar with this practice?* Is it really old school? Any places outside New York city where you can swim naked?
> 
> https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/fashion/thursdaystyles/28nude.html?scp=1&sq=tao+skinny+dipping
> 
> ...


Yes, but the skinny dipping I am familiar with involved ponds, rivers or lakes. R.E.M. had a song about this sort of thing..._Nightswimming_.


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Interesting no one mentions other clubs. I remember swimming naked as a kid at the local Friars Club but they've since closed. Besides the nude swimming - are there any all male athletic clubs around the country? If so is membership open to anyone or do you need recommendations. Is this something that just isn't talked about? I don't want to step on any toes.


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## randomdude (Jun 4, 2007)

Is no one bothered by the fact that this sounds extremely, extremely gay? :icon_smile_wink:


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

randomdude said:


> Is no one bothered by the fact that this sounds extremely, extremely gay? :icon_smile_wink:


This is not about gays. It used to be that guys who wore sack suits and repp ties and were bankers and lawyers belonged to men only athletic clubs where they went swimming naked. Two of these clubs still exist. I only asked if there are more of these clubs. If as some people associate a certain lifestyle to trad things this makes sense. I didn't mean this to offend anyone- 'sides, I ain't 'fraid o no gays.


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## Duck (Jan 4, 2007)

This does not belong on here. End of story.


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

Laxplayer said:


> Yes, but the skinny dipping I am familiar with involved ponds, rivers or lakes. R.E.M. had a song about this sort of thing..._Nightswimming_.





randomdude said:


> Is no one bothered by the fact that this sounds extremely, extremely gay? :icon_smile_wink:


Not in the situations I was talking about. Girls were there too. :aportnoy:


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## Ron_A (Jun 5, 2007)

Laxplayer said:


> Not in the situations I was talking about. Girls were there too. :aportnoy:


_Sure_ there were...That's not what _I _heard. (Only kidding)

I agree with Duck...No offense, Young Guy, but this thread seems silly and probably should have been posted to the interchange, if at all. If the point of the thread was to discuss whether men's only athletic clubs are "trad", then arguably it belongs here, but this fascination with naked swimming strikes me as odd.


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## rojo (Apr 29, 2004)

If you want to join one of America's old downtown athletic clubs, and if you're a "clubbable" man, to use Dr. Johnson's term, just call or e-mail the membership director. I'm sure they'd be glad to have you. As with other types of city clubs, the trend is currently against them. That's to your advantage, because at many of them there is no waiting list and frequently deep discounts offered on the initiation fee (the downtown athletic club in my city was running such a special recently -- I'm not a member, but I saw it on their web site). Ten years from now, the situation might be completely different. These things go in cycles. That's not to say that they are all actively recruiting new members right now, but I know that many of them are.

Do a web search to locate athletic clubs in or near the city where you live. Then you can find out if any of them are all-male, or if not they might have a men's pool, or if there is only one pool there might be men's swim nights.


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## hbs midwest (Sep 19, 2007)

Duck said:


> This does not belong on here. End of story.


Amen, Duck.

hbs


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## wnh (Nov 4, 2006)

rojo said:


> Do a web search to locate athletic clubs in or near the city where you live. Then you can find out if any of them are all-male, or if not they might have a men's pool, or if there is only one pool there might be men's swim nights.


Or just call up and ask, "Can I swim naked with other men in your pool?"


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Sorry I was unclear. I didn't mean this to be only about swimming naked, and no I do not have any special interest in seeing men naked. I did find the article interesting, old style clubs for men only, American Golden Age architects, swimming and tennis/squash. I guess I was fascinated that places like this still exist and simply wondered if there were any more. I honestly didn't see any difference between this topic and the other trad topics such as dogs or cars. Again, sorry I was not clear.

Rojo, thanks for replying, I will be calling around.


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## eg1 (Jan 17, 2007)

I have heard tell that years ago boys PhysEd classes that went swimming were made to do so "au naturel". I am not old enough to have been part of that --my own pool is another matter altogether ... :icon_smile_wink:


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## Danny (Mar 24, 2005)

young guy said:


> Sorry I was unclear. I didn't mean this to be only about swimming naked, and no I do not have any special interest in seeing men naked. I did find the article interesting, old style clubs for men only, American Golden Age architects, swimming and tennis/squash. I guess I was fascinated that places like this still exist and simply wondered if there were any more. I honestly didn't see any difference between this topic and the other trad topics such as dogs or cars. Again, sorry I was not clear.
> 
> Rojo, thanks for replying, I will be calling around.


Well not entirely the same thing, but still a fascinating holdover from the past, is the Russian and Turkish Baths on E. 10th st in NYC. One of my favorite places. It's more egalitarian though, anyone can go. Sunday morning is men only I believe.

Danny


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## fenway (May 2, 2006)

VC2000 said:


> LBJ used it as a form of intimidation - he would "talk" with you by getting very close to you and then back you in the ever deeper end of the pool. He was famous for curling over someone that he was trying to argue a point. Most guests ended up treading water for most of the experience while the taller LBJ standing it the shallow end would expand upon his points. He pushed through many issues doing this not the least of which was civil rights.


Taken from Answers.com:

Central to Johnson's control was "The Treatment",[12] described by two journalists:[13]
The Treatment could last ten minutes or four hours. It came, enveloping its target, at the LBJ Ranch swimming pool, in one of LBJ's offices, in the Senate cloakroom, on the floor of the Senate itself - wherever Johnson might find a fellow Senator within his reach. Its tone could be supplication, accusation, cajolery, exuberance, scorn, tears, complaint and the hint of threat. It was all of these together. It ran the gamut of human emotions. Its velocity was breathtaking, and it was all in one direction. Interjections from the target were rare. Johnson anticipated them before they could be spoken. He moved in close, his face a scant millimeter from his target, his eyes widening and narrowing, his eyebrows rising and falling. From his pockets poured clippings, memos, statistics. Mimicry, humor, and the genius of analogy made The Treatment an almost hypnotic experience and rendered the target stunned and helpless.

Johnson gives "The Treatment" to 90-year-old Rhode Island Senator Theodore F. Green in 1957


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## mpcsb (Jan 1, 2005)

I think this has moved far enough away from club/trad/lifestyle to warrent moving to the interchange.


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## Concordia (Sep 30, 2004)

I believe that the Racquet Club in Philly has a nude pool. They let women into the clubhouse and onto the courts, but as the pool was part of the men's locker room until recently, access was not an issue.


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## 16412 (Apr 1, 2005)

eg1 said:


> I have heard tell that years ago boys PhysEd classes that went swimming were made to do so "au naturel". I am not old enough to have been part of that --my own pool is another matter altogether ... :icon_smile_wink:


If being naked in the locker room and shower is normal, then why not the pool?

Glad I was never around Johnson.


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## mpcsb (Jan 1, 2005)

eg1 said:


> I have heard tell that years ago boys PhysEd classes that went swimming were made to do so "au naturel". I am not old enough to have been part of that --my own pool is another matter altogether ... :icon_smile_wink:


Even as late as the early 70s my all boys highschool swim class was like this. The teacher (also coach of the swim team) was also nude. Nobody thought anything of it - it's just the way it was.


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## Howard (Dec 7, 2004)

WA said:


> If being naked in the locker room and shower is normal, then why not the pool?
> 
> Glad I was never around Johnson.


Though some people prefer to skinnydip in private.


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Do club members still call each other by their last names? I've seen this in movies and wonder if it is some sort of carry over from prep school.


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

young guy said:


> Do club members still call each other by their last names? I've seen this in movies and wonder if it is some sort of carry over from prep school.


How original.


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Laxplayer said:


> How original.


OOOOOh thanks for answering the question. I guess questions about the class system really do upset people.


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## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

young guy said:


> OOOOOh thanks for answering the question. I guess questions about the class system really do upset people.


No, you can talk about class distinctions all you want, just don't take your ideas from another website and claim them as your own. :icon_smile_wink:


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## young guy (Jan 6, 2005)

Laxplayer said:


> No, you can talk about class distinctions all you want, just don't take your ideas from another website and claim them as your own. :icon_smile_wink:


I've been banned everywhere else, I have no other place but here -


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