National Swimming Pool Day 2026

National Swimming Pool Day

Today is National Swimming Pool Day.  To celebrate, here are some photos taken by LIFE photographer William Vandivert in 1938 at the University of Michigan.  The first photo shows coach Matt Mann talking to a swim team member.  Although they are clothed, note the naked swimmer in the background.  Swimmers practiced naked in those days.

Here's coach Mann talking to another swim team member.  Matt Mann (1884-1962) was born in England, where he learned to swim in the public bath house and the canals in Leeds.  One day, swimming nude in a canal, someone stole his clothes, and a policeman marched him naked through the town to the station.

In 1908 he emigrated to the U.S, where he eventually became a swim coach at Yale, then Harvard, and finally the University of Michigan.  In 1965 he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

We end with a photo of eight swim team members doing an exercise in the pool.  LIFE magazine did not publish frontal nudity, though it occasionally published rear nudity.  I don't think any of these photos appeared in the magazine.  They are in the LIFE photo archive.

National Swimming Pool Day 2025

National Swimming Pool Day

July 11 is National Swimming Pool Day.

Up until the 1960s, males swam naked in many swimming pools such as YMCA pools and college pools.  As long as no females were present, men and boys had no problem swimming naked with each other.

Above is a photo of a YMCA pool in Columbus, Ohio in the 1930s.

A YMCA swimming lesson.  I got this from Bob's Naked Guys.  Thanks, Bob!

This is the Encina Gym at Stanford University in 1930 with naked students working out in the pool.

This photo of naked boys in a swimming pool was published in the Oct. 16, 1950 issue of LIFE magazine.  Taken by LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, it accompanied an article about New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago).  LIFE did not publish frontal male nudity, but they occasionally published rear male nudity.

However, there are quite a few fakes out there.  This appealing photo shows a diver at the National Collegiate Swimming Championships held at Ohio State University in 1953.

Only problem: that photo is a fake.  Yes, the event happened in 1953, but the swimmers were not naked.  Above is the real photo, taken by LIFE photographer Joe Scherschel.

We end with Ron Barnes in Bob Mizer's pool in a 1977 AMG photo.  (I don't know why he's on a surfboard.)  I got the photo from Vintage Muscle Men.  Thanks, Jerry!  And happy National Swimming Pool Day!