Do it in the nude: public pools offer naked swimming

The employees are the only ones wearing clothes when naturist night takes place in Svømmeland (Swimland) in Aalborg

Letting guests hit the water completely naked is becoming more and more common in Danish public pools. Jens Rasmussen, the chairman of the 1,000-member strong Danish Naturists association, said he was happy about the trend even though it’s limited to certain hours.

“It’s absolutely a positive thing that more public pools give the guests a choice. I would prefer bathing naked to wearing a swimsuit any time,” said Rasmussen, who’s experiencing a growing interest among both swimming clubs and pools to offer naturist swimming. He said the swimming events considering going clothing-free include family swimming, baby swimming, sauna and regular swimming.

Danish Naturists often organise the naked swimming by renting the pools and changing rooms. Currently, those inclined can swim naked in public pools in cities including Esbjerg, Gudkop, Frederiksberg, Herfølge, Durup, Aarhus and Aalborg.

Danish Naturists wants to revolt against what they believe to be an exaggerated focus on nakedness and sexualisation of the body. Instead, the organisation is trying to go back to free ideals of the ‘70s, according to Rasmussen.

“To most people swimsuits are considered normal, but I think very few people actually think that swimsuits are that nice per se,” he said. “I have never heard about someone who takes a bath or shower wearing a swimsuit.”

During the summer, most naturists use camping areas and the sea, but in the winter the options are limited to those who don’t want to plunge nude into the cold water. At very few occasions the public pools offer naked swimming themselves. One of these is Svømmeland (Swimland) in Nørresundby, where 120 naturists meet five times during the winter to go to the sauna.

Helle Mathiasen is the hostess at Svømmeland’s naked sauna nights and said the event – which includes a naked dinner – is quite popular.

“The staff is wearing clothes, but everybody else is naked,” she said. “Most guests are around the age of 60, but there are also parents with children, as well as some physically handicapped members.”

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