I'm A Skinny Dipper!

Just people chatting about Skinny Dipping and the best spots in America or even in your backyard. Welcome to the Group Everyone

Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

Return to Discussions

I draw a distinction between skinny dipping and swimming naked at a nude beach. Does anyone else do this? To me skinny dipping is swimming naked wherever you are. When I am swimming naked at a designated nude beach it is a sanctioned activity. I love it. But i think of Skinny dipping as more a personal choice to go naked wherever you are. i'm curious if anybody else sees it this way. If I go for a hike and come upon a nice pool of water or swimming hole and i make the choice to jump in naked I call it skinnydipping.

This topic was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

I can see your point, i have personally always thought of it as the same thing.Though that might just be because english is not my native language.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

I can see your point, i have personally always thought of it as the same thing.Though that might just be because english is not my native language.Now just looking at it, I should have phrased my initial comment differently.Ithink both expressions (skinnydipping and swimming nude) are just that -ways of expressing the same thing. Theyare interchangeable asexpressions to describe naked swimming. I think it is just a word choice and I interchange them regularly too!Maybe I shouldn't have stressed thewords as much as the action and theintent. I guess I draw a distinction between going nude in a sanctioned nudist or clothing optional place and going nude in some other place just because I want to do it.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

I can see your point, i have personally always thought of it as the same thing.Though that might just be because english is not my native language.Now just looking at it, I should have phrased my initial comment differently.Ithink both expressions (skinnydipping and swimming nude) are just that -ways of expressing the same thing. Theyare interchangeable asexpressions to describe naked swimming. I think it is just a word choice and I interchange them regularly too!Maybe I shouldn't have stressed thewords as much as the action and theintent. I guess I draw a distinction between going nude in a sanctioned nudist or clothing optional place and going nude in some other place just because I want to do it.

I have never really given the difference much thought. May i ask what you think the distinction is?My inital thought is that the difference is only that one is meant for nudity and the other is not. And in some countries there might be a legal issue to it.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

I was at a nudist camp and one night when no one was around I put my swim suite on and went into the pool lol

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

I understand what you mean now. Yes, i would draw a distinction also then. A small one though.The reason being as i stated before, that one is meant for nudism and the other is not.And therefore i guess "skinnydipping" has a little risk factor to it since one has a chance to get "caught", or might be viewed as slightly rebelious. (Hope i am making sense here).

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

Yes. I guess that's it.When Ithink of skinnydipping, it is a term implying some risk. When I go on a hike and find a nice spot I will skinnydip, but always looking around to see if textiles might show up. Then the decision comes as to whether I stay naked (which I usually do) or discreetly grab a towel. I think the "risk" could bein swimming naked in a place where its not sanctioned.And maybe it could also be a personal feeling of "risk" for the swimmer. Ifrequent a place in Vermont commonly used as a nude swimming place. Sometimes people find it accidentally orvisit out of curiosity. Often there is a good deal of hesitation among these people, especially the young ones. It seems like and feels like what I'd call "skinnydipping".Even though the place is sanctioned for nude swimming and there are others there doing it, The act might feel like it has some exposure risk for those people unaccustomed.Thanks!

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

Much ado about semantics. There is no difference between these two things except the words themselves. Many people go to nude beaches and go "skinny dipping". Some people go "skinny dipping" in their home pools. Prior to the 70s, boys (and men) "swam naked" at school and at the YMCA. Visitors to Nudist Resorts are usually required to "swim naked" in the resort pool. There may be mental images of the Hippy Culture or hikers and scouts in the wilderness associated with one and more sedate people at approved venues associated with one or the other choice of these words. It doesn't matter in the end. WE KNOW instinctively that swimming without a suit is the most logical choice. Call it what you will, its still the best way to go.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

Very well put MRK222. Thanks! How I miss the open naked swimsthey had when I was a kid at the YMCA. The 1980's changed all that. My first job, at age 14 was at the local Boy's Club. We didn't have a Y in our town and before that had traveled 10 miles to a nearby city YMCA. At the Boy's Club we had open gang showers and, although boys wore suits in the pool for summer day camps there, the staff and aides and any other boys around for regular open swims or afterhours all swam naked. I remember the lifeguard on duty wore orange shorts, but if there was a shift change, sometimes they would take their suits off to swim. In the 1970's the place was remodeled and it became a Boy's and Girls Club and no more naked swims.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

Very well put MRK222. Thanks! How I miss the open naked swimsthey had when I was a kid at the YMCA. The 1980's changed all that. My first job, at age 14 was at the local Boy's Club. We didn't have a Y in our town and before that had traveled 10 miles to a nearby city YMCA. At the Boy's Club we had open gang showers and, although boys wore suits in the pool for summer day camps there, the staff and aides and any other boys around for regular open swims or afterhours all swam naked. I remember the lifeguard on duty wore orange shirts, but if there was a shift change, sometimes they would take their suits off to swim. In the 1970's the place was remodeled and it became a Boy's and Girls Club and no more naked swims.I am sad to say that inclusion of girls/women was in large part a reason that YMCAs also had to change their nude swim policies.

This post was edited
RE: Skinnydipping as opposed to swimmimg naked?

This discussion has been amusing...let me try to "put a fork in it." Skinny-dipping and swimming naked denote (that's the key word) exactly the same thing, but the connotation of "skinny-dipping" is a surreptitious (clandestine) activity. For example, one might say, "When the Smiths were away, we snuck into their yard and went skinny-dipping in their pool," but you would be much less likely to say, "and went naked swimming in their pool." Conversely, one would be less likely to say, "We went to a naturist resort and went skinny-dipping in their pool." Swimming naked in the context is more normalized, so using a term that's most often related to clandestine activity is less appropriate. It'sall about denotation vs. connotation.

This post was edited