A Traditional Swim

This story is part of a series. Chapters 1 through 12 will provide context. Hopefully, however, this story may also be enjoyed as a stand-alone work.

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The nude swim meet in New England had stoked Sara's desire to train and compete. We had only been back on the island about ten days when Sara informed me that we would be leaving for Central Florida. Sara had been on the phone with Beth, her old coach. Another friend of Beth's now coached the women's swim team at a fairly major school in Florida. The team was about to start pre-season practices, and the coach had agreed that Sara and I could train with them until the season started.

I looked at Sara questioningly when she told me this. Sara insists on training, and competing, nude and insists that I swim nude with her. I had trouble imaging that a college coach would allow this.

Sara said, "I know what you are thinking. No, we are not taking suits. After Beth put me in touch with the coach, I spoke to her and explained myself. She asked her team and says that all of her swimmers were ok with the three of us training with them nude."

"Three of us?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Trish had a 'personality conflict' at her job and 'resigned.' Fired more likely, but she has time on her hands and is coming down to train too."

To my limited experience, Trish was a very easygoing person. If she had a "personality conflict," I had to believe that the other person was a real jerk.

"Is Larry coming," I asked.

"No, he can't take the time off. You're stuck with just me and Trish."

I would not characterize time with Sara and Trish as "stuck." They are about the two most intelligent and personable people I know, and Trish is almost as beautiful as Sara.

Being the dutiful male in the couple, I acquiesced and ask where, specifically, we were going and when did we leave. After Sara told me, I figured that Captiva was not going to be that far away.

"Maybe we can go over and visit Karen and her husband," I suggested.

"If you want to do that, you'd better plan it for the end of the trip. We're training two-a-days six days a week. I'm expecting that we'll both be pretty whipped on the off day," Sara responded.

I wasn't entirely thrilled with the image of an aquatic concentration camp that this conjured. Still, it was something Sara wanted to do. Seeing Trish would be a pleasure. And, I'd be training nude with a college women's swim team. There had to be some value in that. I sent Karen an e-mail to see if she and her husband would be available when my swimming boot camp was over.

Three days later, we had met Trish at Orlando airport and the three of us were in the rental car heading for the college. Sara had booked us into a reasonably nice hotel a couple of blocks from the college. "I only booked one room. Since we'll be spending five or six hours together nude each day, I didn't think privacy was a big issue," Sara explained.

The hotel was a glitch. Sara had booked a room with two queen size beds. There was some sort of convention in town and all that was available was one king. Sara took it, and then gave me a look. "Don't get any ideas, bud. You'll be too beat to do anything other than sleep."

After dropping our bags in what turned out to be a reasonably nice room, we walked to the natatorium to meet the swim coach. The natatorium turned out to be a large and very modern building. Going in the glass front doors, we were confronted with a receptionist. I had been expecting something a bit less formal. This seemed a bit high-powered and corporate for what we had in mind.

After a few minutes a slender woman with long, straight brown hair walked into the reception area. She looked to be in her late 30s or early 40s. "Sara?" she asked and extended her hand to Sara. "I'm Lauren ____, head women's swim coach.

Lauren led us through double doors, and we began to get a scent of chlorine, as she explained some basics. "This facility just opened last year. We have separate men's and women's training pools and then the competition pool with spectator seating. Due to our climate, water sports are a large part of life in Florida so it seemed to make sense for the Athletic Department to emphasize swimming and diving."

Lauren went on, "right now we have 20 swimmers and three divers on the team. Everyone is on scholarship." Lauren chuckled, "I may have to ask you three to hide a few times as I expect that we will have a few recruits and, maybe, parents visiting practice. Ordinarily, I have two assistants, but Shelly, my diving coach, is still recovering from surgery. You'll meet Gail at practice tomorrow."

Lauren shifted to our situation. "When Beth first called me to say that you were looking for a team to work out with and explained your training preference, I thought it was a great idea. Then I thought about what University Administration would say. It isn't unusual or improper for us to have other swimmers workout with us in pre-season, but they usually wear suits. Still, because Beth assured me that you're serious swimmers, I admire what you're doing. So, I talked it over with my team. I explained that there would be a man and he would be nude throughout practice as would two women. Well, you know a bunch of college-age girls. Most of them thought it would be a hoot. We do have a fairly straight-laced freshman, Heather. I think she went along with the idea mainly out of peer pressure from her teammates. Heather is my youngest. She just turned 18 over the summer and had a pretty sheltered upbringing. I think that she is still finding being away from home at college a bit disorienting. She is a hell of a swimmer though. So, what I'm telling you is that no one beyond my team knows about you or what you're doing. Please be low-key. And, you probably ought to keep some distance from Heather. You'll notice her immediately: short, blonde, with this incredibly innocent face and a body I wish I had."

Lauren had some special instructions for me. "It is fine if Sara and Trish use the locker room with the team; but I didn't think I could ask my team to shower with a man. Harry, you will change, or undress, and shower in the visitor's locker room. There may be some equipment and training staff people in there, but they'll be dressed. Ok?"

I nodded that it was fine with me.

Lauren summed up. "Ok. Practice starts at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. We'll run until 8:00. Obviously, you don't need to attend the team meetings, so you'll be back at 4:00 p.m. for the afternoon practice until 7:30. Don't worry; we'll swim your ass into the ground." Lauren smiled and we were dismissed.

As we walked out, Trish said, with a tone of sarcasm, "She's pretty relaxed."

Sara laughed. "I have to get you two in shape. I'm just sorry Larry couldn't come."

We walked around a while, had a light dinner, and went to sleep early. The next morning, we were up at 4:00 and walking to the natatorium as the sun shone on the horizon. We each carried a small gym bag, more as cover than anything else. Mine contained swim goggles and a combination lock.

We went in and walked past Lauren's office. We saw a couple of young-looking women going into a room marked "Lockers." Sara ran up and asked, "Where are the visitor's lockers?"

An attractive brunette who was halfway through the door turned and came back into the hallway. "Are you the people who will be swimming with us?" she asked. Sara nodded. The brunette gave each of us a long, appraising look. Then she smiled. Gesturing to Sara and Trish, she said "this is the team lockers. You can go on in." Nodding to be, she said "this way."

I followed the brunette further down the hall to another door marked "Lockers." She opened the door for me. "You're in here. I'm Ashley by the way." I introduced myself. Ashley said, "See you in a few." She smiled, winked, then turned and went back down the hall.

I walked into the vacant locker room. It was quite large. I picked out a cubicle, emptied my few valuables into the bottom, shut the lid, and fastened it with my lock. I took off my clothes and hung them on the hangers. Nude, I went into the shower and wetted down. I toweled off enough so that I wasn't dripping. Then I saw the door marked "POOL." I took a breath, opened the door, and was hit with the warm, humid, chlorinated air of an indoor pool.

At the other end of the people were a number of women. As far as I could tell they all wore dark blue one-piece suits; high on the chest on sides cut very high on the hips. The suits were also very tight and I could discern several excellent profiles. Someone noticed me and pointed. Not surprisingly, everyone stopped and looked at me. I guess they weren't used to having a naked man at practice. Finally noticing a blonde showing a lot more flesh than the others, I walked along the pool deck towards Sara and the swim team.

Sara, completely naked too, walked up and gave me a kiss. Behind her were two girls in the practice suits. One I recognized as Ashley. Sara turned between us. "Harry, I think that you already met Ashley."

With a big grin, Ashley said "very nice to see you again."

Sara gestured towards a tall blonde with a stunning figure. "This is Sandy. She and Ashley have already been very helpful."

Sandy stepped forward, extended her hand, and we shook. "It is good to meet you," Sandy said. "I admire your courage going naked with a pool full of women, although I gather from Sara that you're pretty used to going naked just about anywhere. Anyway, glad that you're here. If I can do anything, except swim your laps, just ask."

At that point, Trish walked out of the locker room, also nude, talking to Lauren. Lauren clapped her hands sharply and her swimmers sat down on some risers at the starting block end of the pool. Sara, Trish, and I stood, naked, against a wall.

Lauren outlined the morning workout, which sounded daunting. Then she told her team, "As you know, we have some guests who will be with us for preseason workouts." Turning to us, Lauren said, "Please come over and introduce yourselves."

We walked over and stood naked in front of 20 college girls in tight one-piece swimsuits, said our names, and thanked them for the opportunity to work out with them. Lauren said, "As you can see, our guests aren't wearing anything. We talked about this. Sara, Trish, and Harry will be nude anytime they are in the pool area." Glancing out me, Lauren said, "You're welcome to look, but behave yourselves."

Standing there in front of the women's swim team, I did feel exposed. Sara reached out and took my hand. Exposed actually felt pretty nice.

Looking over the swimmers, I noticed one blonde-haired girl sitting slightly away from the others. She had a heart-shaped face and, from what I could see, a fantastic body. That must be Heather. She appeared to be thinking about something. Then she looked up and we made eye contact for a moment.

Lauren clapped her hands again and yelled, "Ok, 20 warm-up laps." The girls lined up at the end of each of four of the six lanes, diving in in quick intervals. Ashley stood in the line closest to me and gestured for me to go in front of her. As I watched the ass and legs of the girl in front of me go in the water, Ashley said, "keep your spacing. We don't want you swimming up Carol's ass, but don't dog it or you'll have me in your crack." I could think of worse things to happen, but dove in determined to pull my weight.

After the warm up, Lauren put us through swims of various distances which had to be done within a prescribed time. Missing the time meant ten extra laps in the sixth lane, which was reserved for penalty laps. Following that were laps with a practice board, using only your kick to propel you through the water. After about an hour, it seemed longer, Lauren called a short break. Getting out of the pool, I quickly drank a lot of water from a fountain and sat down on the risers. Sara and Trish were chatting with team members. I was already tired.

A slender girl walked up, extended her hand, and said "hello, I'm Kay."

"Hello Kay. Pleased to meet you."

"It's a bit rough, isn't it?"

I smiled. "I'm glad to hear you say that. I thought only the old guy was wearing out."

Kay sat down a bit away from me. "No, Coach always makes the first couple of days a bitch. It gets better from there. May I ask you something?

"Certainly," I responded.

"I'm ok with it, but why are you swimming naked?"

I gave Kay a short history of my relationship with Sara.

"That's cool." Kay said. "How does it feel?"

"It truly feels great," I responded.

"Even with all of us girls here?" Kay was smiling by now.

I smiled back. "Yes, even with all of you girls here."

Lauren clapped her hands again and it was in the pool for another long session. We got one more break and finished practice with 40 laps. I almost crawled to the shower at about the same time in the morning that a lot of normal people were waking up.

I met Sara and Trish in the hallway. Sara looked fresh as always. Trish, however, leaned exaggeratedly on my arm and said "Jesus that was tough. We're doing this again in eight hours?"

Sara, disgustingly chipper, said "Yes, two weeks of two-a-days, "and smiled broadly.

Ashley and Sandy came out of the locker room. Ashley said, "We don't have class until 10:00. Do you guys want to get something to eat?" We walked with Ashley and Sandy to a small place off of campus.

Sandy explained, "It is health food, so the menu sounds a bit weird but it mostly tastes pretty good and we've learned that it beats hell out of eating at Mickey D's during preseason practice."

We had a surprisingly good meal. Ashley and Sandy asked us a number of questions about our nude lifestyle. After Sara told them about the international nude meet in France a year or so ago, Sandy said "that sounds like a great time." Ashley nodded agreement.

Ashley and Sandy left to go to class. Sara wanted to roam around, but Trish and I both wanted to go back to the room. Sara said she'd meet us at the room later and walked off. Trish and I walked, slowly, back to the hotel. Once in the room, we stripped, fell into bed together, and slept.

Sara woke us about 2:30 and gave an enthusiastic monologue about all the great things she had discovered in the town. Trish and I were more focused on the longer practice session starting at 4:00 p.m.

The next morning, I was doubly surprised. First, I was not nearly as sore as I had expected to be. Second, I had spent the night in the same bed with two very beautiful nude women and sex had been the farthest thing from all of our minds.

We fell into a routine built around swim practice. Basically, we were living the same life as the team members except we didn't have classes. We were also making friends with the team members, except for Heather.

In the hallway after Friday evening's practice, Kay came up to the three of us. "We're having a party tomorrow after practice. You guys are welcome to come. Here's a sheet with the directions. Oh, and, we don't tell Coach about our parties."

The second Saturday practice started at two, so we were down by five. Outside, Kay asked if we were coming to the party. Sara said that we were, after we went back to the hotel to clean up. "Can we bring anything?" Sara asked.

Kay shook her head, "no, just show up. We'll be glad to see you."

Sara, Trish, and I went back to the hotel and cleaned up. Sara and Trish both put on sundresses with nothing underneath, and both looked stunning. I pulled on a pair of shorts and one of my old Northwestern t-shirts. We walked several blocks away from campus into a leafy, seemingly upscale residential neighborhood. The houses were farther apart and well maintained. The address Kay had given us was a large older home that sat well off of the street with a number of well-established trees in the yard.

After we knocked, Ashley opened the door. "I am so glad that you came," she said. Sandy came out of another room and gave each of Sara and Trish a quick hug. Ashley explained that she and Sandy rented the house. It was a nice house and I said so.

"Well, Dad pays for it and Dad has a lot of money," Ashley said almost apologetically.

A tall, athletic-looking young man came into the hall. Sandy introduced him as her boyfriend Rob. Rob was followed by a shorter young man.

Ashley introduced the shorter man, "And this is Kent. Kent and I are seeing each other." Apparently, Kent had yet to achieve boyfriend status with the lovely Ashley.

Ashley motioned us out of the hallway, "Come on. Everyone is in the back yard." We followed Ashley out of the hallway, through a kitchen door, and down a short flight of steps into a large, leafy, and semi-secluded yard. I could see an upstairs window of another house through the trees. It looked like the entire swim team was there, along with a few other girls and a fair number of guys who I assumed were boyfriends. While I could see an ice chest with beer and a few bottles of wine on a picnic table, it seemed to be much quieter and decorous than the college parties I remembered from my distant youth. I looked, but I didn't see Heather at the party.

Kay came up and hugged all three of us. "I am so happy that you guys came. Let me introduce you to the folks you don't already know." With that, Kay undertook the task of introducing us around. Of course, the swimmers all knew us and our story. Explaining what we were doing there to some of the boyfriends and other girls brought disbelief. One guy in particular, who seemed to be paired up with a slightly Hispanic-looking backstroker, was especially dubious.

"I absolutely do not believe that, every day, you three take all of your clothes off and go through swim practice nude. Nope. No way."

A slight smile played on Kay's face. She turned to Sara, Trish, and me and said, "Would you be willing to show him your practice uniforms?"

It never took much prompting to get us naked. Sara whipped her sundress over her head. I quickly peeled off my t-shirt and dropped my shorts. After a moment, Trish said "what the hell" and pulled her own sundress over her head. The doubting Thomas was speechless, I assume because Sara and Trish look so incredibly beautiful with nothing on.

Ashley walked over smiling. "I was hoping that we'd get you guys naked. Here, let me put your clothes in the house. I'll get them for you when you're ready to leave." Ashley had decided that we'd stay nude for the whole party. Oh well, it was a very pleasant evening to go naked.

Everyone adjusted to our nudity surprisingly well. We, of course, were more comfortable with nothing on including, by this time, Trish. Mainly, we mixed and chatted. We learned that Sandy's boyfriend, Rob, was a senior pitcher on the school baseball team. Rob had been drafted the year before, very late, by the White Sox. As he got ready for his senior season, he was trying to decide whether he wanted to try minor league ball after college.

"I don't really have major league stuff, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to quit playing. Besides, sitting in an office all day doesn't sound like a good time. I'll probably end up there, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet," he said. I asked how Sandy affected his plans. "Sandy is a really great lady, and I love her a lot. But, she wants to be a swim coach. I think Coach Lauren will give her a year or two here as an unpaid grad assistant, but she's going to have to move around to climb up that ladder. If she's going to live a nomadic life, there's no reason I shouldn't. Whether the relationship will survive that, well we'll have to see."

We also learned that the guy Ashley was "seeing," Kent, was not an athlete but was a poli sci major like Ashley. Sara let slip that I had twice been a candidate for public office, unsuccessfully, and had managed two winning campaigns. "That was before he decided to go swimming with no clothes on and met me," Sara grinned.