Episode Details

The College Swim Team: Part 1

College swim teams sometimes went nude, in the '50s. I joined one.

Based on a post by AnonymousPerv. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.

The old College Journal.

It was a different time, a different generation. Hell, two generations. But as the years draw closer to my final days, my memories only become clearer. Besides, what much else did I have to do other than to reflect on better times? Edna passed on eight years ago, and we never had children. I'm retired and have a woman come by to clean the house once a week. That's about all the socializing I do. Mostly, I just sit my ass on the front porch and either bitch to myself about the news, or think on old times. I'm a stereotype old fart, now.

The memories keep me going, though. From the last vacation that Edna and I shared together in Vancouver, to the first time I broke the Kansas state record in a freestyle 100-meter swim match. I often thought about the short stint I had on the Olympic team, before my knee problems, and other notable events like my wedding, and the fishing trips my best friend Lyle and I used to go on.

But there was one moment in time that I reflect on more than others. We probably all have that one favorite slice of time in our lives that we would like to repeat. This was mine.

It was the Fall of 1958. I'd earned a full scholarship to Penn, for their university swim team in eastern Pennsylvania. Technically it was an academic scholarship, but all the Ivy league schools somehow happened upon star athletes when looking for intelligent students.

I moved into my athletic hall dorm room with only one day to spare before classes officially began. It was a single bed dorm and a perk of the scholarship, as most students roomed together. I'd acquired enough trophies back in Wichita to merit the interest of several colleges, and high enough GPA for a full ride and the perks (they definitely incentivized me to come here), but I was about to discover things operated much differently at the school pool and the local YMCA, in this part of the country

"Naked?" I gasped, as I was changing into my swim trunks in the natatorium's locker room after just meeting a few of the other team members.

"Yeah, buddy," said the sophomore teammate, talking to me, a short guy with dirty blonde hair. "Where are you from again? Penn requires proper swim guidelines. You shoulda known that."

The guy speaking to me didn't really know me, but I had mentioned I was from out of state.

"Health and cleanliness of the pool. Everyone knows that," he said. “Besides, the original Greek Olympians all competed in the nude. It's also mandatory at the YMCA, ya know.”

I later found out that the YMCA, which was for men and boys only; did keep that same policy for another 10 years.

This may have not been so jarring for me, if it wasn't only the second day I was there. I hadn't even met anyone yet, and certainly wasn't prepared for this. We, the incoming freshmen swimmers, were to meet the coaches and then be timed on distances, and assessed on our performances and styles. But naked?

Again, I hadn't even met the coach at this point. Back then, we handled things by loc