Shower etiquette at the swimming pool

Georgiegirl256

spirit wrote: »

Most women where I go (several times a week) wear cossies. You rarely see bikinis. Similarly the men wear swim shorts. You don't see Speedos at all.

itsanne wrote: »

I swim regularly in a relatively 'serious' pool. Almost all the women wear one piece costumes. Bikinis are extremely rare, never worn by any of the regulars. The men wear a much wider variety of outfits, from beach shorts to speedos and stretchy, tight fitting 'trunks', some of which leave very little to the imagination!

Well that's what I thought, I can't see many women wanting to wear a bikini at the swimming baths. Much more comfortable to wear an all in one.

missbiggles1

Jagraf wrote: »

That isn't undressed though is it?

I don't see many women in bikinis except if it's an outdoor pool in the summer. Bikinis are a bit of a hassle to swim in especially with diving boards.

What's the difference between a bikini or Speedos and underwear?

I never see people using the diving boards anywhere I go and several pools don't have any.

Pyxis

missbiggles1 wrote: »

What's the difference between a bikini or Speedos and underwear?

It's all in the context.

itsanne

missbiggles1 wrote: »

What's the difference between a bikini or Speedos and underwear?

Something usually goes over the top of the latter?

megaginge

Maybe cossies is a regional thing, but huge number of people at my local gym (west london) wear bikinis or speedos. My oh wears a two piece. I personally wear shorts....

penguingirl

I very rarely go swimming- but when I do e.g. if I'm in a hotel, I normally go for a bikini. Now I feel weird! It's because I'm not a regular swimmer- my one piece is really old, whereas I have newer bikinis from holidays. Obviously I wear one that isn't too skimpy (not that any of them are). Now I'll have to reconsider

missbiggles1

Petra_70 wrote: »

I agree with Georgie. For the love of Gawd, give it a break! Quit hounding Torry and the other people on here who don't feel comfortable being naked in front of people, and don't feel comfortable with their young children being around people with their genitals on display! If that's the way people feel, that's up to them, and you have no right questioning them or making an issue out of it!

It's a perfectly reasonable way to feel; not feeling happy with someone's meat and two veg swinging free a few feet away from you! Torry and the others - including me - don't need to justify ourselves!

And re Miss B's comments, I agree with the person who said that people don't WEAR bikinis in the swimming baths. I see about 150 different people in the swimming pool over the course of my 10 or so trips a month, and I can count on the fingers of one hand, the amount of women I see in a bikini in the pool!

And I agree that being naked is NOT the same as having a cossie or bikini on! Do people even think before they say post?!

Nobody (certainly not me) said that swimwear's the same as nakedness, my comment was addressed to the remark about not liking to see people in a state of undress. If swimwear isn't a state of undress, I don't know what is!

I also said that people should strip off or cover up as much or as little as they're comfortable with. What I don't care for is people who want to make others cover up because that's what they like for themselves. That was the main point of the OP but some on here also think that they should decide these things for others.

Live and let live is what I believe in - not making others abide by what you like for yourself and I don't think that's unreasonable.

missbiggles1

megaginge wrote: »

Maybe cossies is a regional thing, but huge number of people at my local gym (west london) wear bikinis or speedos. My oh wears a two piece. I personally wear shorts....

That's what I'm used to as well but I go to a small leisure pool, rather than the sort of Olympic type pool where everybody does lengths. I also spend a lot of time in France where only Speedos and short, tight trunks are allowed - no baggy trunks or longer swimming shorts.

coolcait

missbiggles1 wrote: »

...

I also said that people should strip off or cover up as much or as little as they're comfortable with. What I don't care for is people who want to make others cover up because that's what they like for themselves. That was the main point of the OP but some on here also think that they should decide these things for others.

Live and let live is what I believe in - not making others abide by what you like for yourself and I don't think that's unreasonable.

I don't think that anyone here has said that they "want to make others cover up because that's what they like for themselves".

The message I'm getting is that some people will simply not use a swimming pool, or other facility, if they feel that they may find themselves in a situation which will make them feel uncomfortable.

Against that background, it could be said that those who like to go naked in the changing room are expecting other to abide by what they like for themselves...

As an aside, this is another thread where I wonder if there may be some geographical differences in people's experiences.

I've only ever used public swimming pools - not gym clubs or anything like that. My experience of changing room etiquette has varied depending on where I lived.

In Scotland, all of the pools I've used (small towns, biggish towns, big city) have had a communal shower area - part of which may be visible from the pool. They've all had cubicles for changing, and people only get changed if they have a cubicle. It's costumes on for showering.

In London, there were individual shower cubicles, and communal changing areas. The approaches to getting changed ran the gamut from creating a tent out of a bath towel and changing underneath, to stripping to the skin, drying off and getting dressed.

Elsewhere in the world, I found a combination of attitudes towards changing - and a wide variety of requirements before you were even allowed access to the pool!

I will say, however, that anyone who is prefers the costumes on while showering/changing in a cubicle approach should probably avoid visiting swimming pools in Northern Europe!

itsanne

As I'm in Scotland my experience in a variety of pools is the same as coolcait's. However, having experienced communal single sex changing rooms elsewhere I have to confess that while rationally I can't think of any reason not to strip off I'm not very comfortable doing so. I will do if necessary, but much prefer the individual cubicle. Thinking about it, it's not so much the actual nudity which makes me uncomfortable but the overweight nudity - which is daft, considering that my weight is equally apparent in my swimming costume ......