LEARNING HOW TO SWIM NAKED

It was the summer of 1962, I was in my early 20s then. I had some time off from college then and was home for a few weeks. Sadly my little sister fell sick a few days after my arrival and since I hadn't had what she had it was decided that I should go spend a few weeks with my Aunt Sara until my sister got better and my mother had more time on her hands.

I didn't really mind this at all, in fact I was rather excited about it. As a teenager you are always looking to get away form your parents for a little while and exert some of your own independence; and this seemed a great chance for me to do that.

My Aunt Sara must have been in her late 40s then. Her husband, my uncle, had passed away a long time ago and my cousin Jackie worked up in New York. So my Aunt Sara pretty much lived on her own. They had a lovely house, much bigger than ours with a pool and a small yard at the back. That was 1 of my main reasons for being excited to go, I'd have the whole house practically to myself, no sharing stuff, no waiting in line for showers, no constant noise, it would be great! I liked my aunt as well, she was fun and easy to get along with and since I had never stayed over with her on my own before, that was something else I was looking forward too.

My dad drove me cross-country the next day to Aunt Saras', the drive was dull and by the time we reached there I was dead tired. I felt sorry for my dad who had to drive all the way back that night, the urgency of getting me away from my sick sister had forced him to bring me here mid week, and he had work again tomorrow. Thus began my time at Aunt Saras'. The next few days were just amazing, stayed up late, stayed in bed until noon and did what I liked with the rest of my time, no homework, no studies and no nagging parents.

I loved being there and I could tell my aunt liked having somebody else in the house as well. While we were talking she told me about the swim class she taught 2 times a week in the back yard. I didn't really pay much attention to that fact then but simply said that it was "good" or something of the sort.

It was however a few day later that I actually saw her swim class. I was looking through the upstairs window when I heard voices downstairs and saw a group of about 5-6 boys line up by the pool. They looked a few years younger than me and they were all completely naked. My aunt followed them out dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and began telling them what they were going to practice that evening. I turned away from the window then and quickly left. I was just so shocked, I had never seen people naked like that in the open. Of course I had heard it talked about that a lot of male swim classes were in the nude but I had never really seen 1. I didn't have swimming at my school and whenever I had been swimming in he public pools it was always with trunks. So the sight of seeing half a dozen naked boys in back yard was rather startling.

That night I talked to my aunt about it. She was surprised and almost amused at my astonishment. She told me that it was very common for boys to swim in the nude, in school they were required too and as she was training them for school they had to be nude here too. When I asked her if the situation was embarrassing she said it wasn't at all for her, and that she was used to it. As for the boys, she said that they often found it embarrassing especially with female instructors, but that it was all just part of the training. When they were embarrassed they were less likely to fight or get up to mischief and so their focus was entirely on swimming. She said that it helped them grow comfortable with their bodies and the lack of clothing meant that they could swim better and faster. I asked if the girls swam naked as well and she told me that nobody would ever allow that and that it would be immoral. She said that it was different for boys and girls. Girls needed to protect their modesty while there was really no reason for boys to hide themselves.

The whole concept still sounded weird to me then and the thought of swimming naked myself was utterly embarrassing. My aunt told me not to worry about it and that if I felt more comfortable in trucks I could swim in trucks and if I wanted to try swimming nude it need not be in front of the class it could just be me and her. I told her I would think about it, and I did.

The backyard was well shaded by trees so being spotted by the neighbours wasn't an issue. Neither was being naked in front of other boys, though my aunt thought that was part of the reason for my embarrassment, I had showered and changed in front of other boys at school so that wasn't a problem for me. I had just never been naked in front of a woman before not since I was a baby, and the thought of swimming and walking about completely naked in front of a woman was very daunting to me, even if the woman was my aunt.

A part of me did want to do it though and it kept trying to convince me to try it. I told myself it would be a normal swim with my aunt, we had swum together practically every day since I had been there, me in my trucks and she in a black coloured 1 piece. It would just be like that, only I'd be naked.....

The next time Aunt Sara had her swim class I stood in the window and watched. They were to do fast lap races that day and my aunt made them do a few stretches before starting. They did the exercises in the nude as well and it made me feel a bit weird watching them, but aunt was right, there was really no talking or arguing going on. Every boy was just focused on himself and nothing else. Most of them were either comfortable with being nude or just not thinking about it. There were a few though who I could tell were embarrassed from time to time, especially when my aunt was standing next to them. I couldn't really judge their swimming since I wasn't an expert but they all seemed to be good swimmers to me, whether that was because they swam nude I couldn't tell. Watching them did make me want to try it more, but I was still hesitant.

After about 10 days there, I got a call from my mom saying that my sister was better now and I could come back. I was sad to go I had had so much fun here, but my mother insisted.

On my last day, just as I was about to go for my last swim, my aunt came up to me and told me to take off my trunks. She didn't ask or suggest, she just flat out told me to take them off, she said I had being going on about trying all week and if I didn't do it now I wouldn't get another chance back at home. I protested saying I ready, but she didn't listen, she simply told me again to take them off. Her voice was stern and commanding, much like it got when she was with her students.

Reluctantly I obeyed. The 1st few minutes were the most awkward, standing there in front of her completely naked. She looked me up and down and said that that was it, she had seen me and now there was really nothing for me to be embarrassed about. It may sound odd but that worked for me, there really wasn't anything for me to be embarrassed about. My aunt had seen tons of naked boys like me, and now she had seen me as well, what was the point in covering up. It felt like a barrier had been broken and I was at last free.

We swam for over an hour after which I stayed nude while we talked by the pool. I really did feel free, and comfortable, much more so than I thought it would have. My aunt didn't find my conversion surprising at all, she said that it was only natural for boys to be nude and that if my mother and encouraged me from a younger age I wouldn't have had the reservations I did.

After that whenever I went to visit my aunt Sara I always swam nude in her pool, it didn't even bother me if my sister or Jackie were there.