Swimming laid bare

What’s it like to take part in a swimming event with nothing but your bare skin? British Naturism’s writer Dugie Eyton-Hughes reports

We strap on our tow floats and wade slowly into the lake at Watersedge in Bishampton. Sarah-Jayne, Ems, Steve and I are there for a British Naturism (BN) event, and we laugh and joke as we enter the water. Laughing, joking and endless chatting are some of the best things about naked dipping. And hot drinks and cake afterwards.

Sarah-Jayne Thacker tells me she had a skinny-dipping epiphany in September 2023 when, having never swum naked before, she decided to go to the North East Skinny Dip in Northumberland with a friend.

She had always loved the water but having had body issues since she was a teenager, she knew that stripping off “was going to be a big thing for me.” As it turned out, it was “extraordinary.”

It was 7am, and as the sun rose, the countdown began: 5, 4, 3 ,2, 1. Then “everybody throws off their clothes and runs, squealing and screaming and whooping and crying and running into the sea.”

For Sarah-Jayne, it was “50 years of baggage, gone. I was a six-year-old child running down that beach, free of everything that had ever happened.” She got out after 30 minutes, walked up the beach and knew that this was how she wanted to feel all the time.

For Emma Phillips, better known as Ems, skinny-dipping started as “more of a giggle and a laugh” when she was younger and stripped off with a friend. Now, she says, naked swimming is her “happy place,” where she can be one with nature.

I get Ems’ point about stripping off for laughs completely. I’ve been on (non-naturist) swim holidays where I’ve joined others in sneakily taking off our swimsuits, enjoying a few minutes of freedom, then getting dressed before leaving the water. There’s something delightfully subversive about it. Ems calls it “ninja-dipping.”

My own history of swimming au naturel isn’t as compelling as the others’. I joined British Naturism over 10 years ago and started swimming occasionally at a local leisure centre which hosted a regular Saturday evening naked swim. It never occurred to me to question why I was paddling around a pool without a bathing suit; it just felt natural and comfortable.

One thing I’ve noticed, however, is that it can be difficult to find places to swim costume-free outdoors, and here’s where BN Outdoor Swimming Campaign Coordinator Steve Randerson comes in.

Steve has always enjoyed being in water and he’s a naturist so, as he says, putting the two together naturally means skinny-dipping. But outdoor swimming on your own can be dangerous, and finding groups that skinny-dip is difficult. Steve decided to try to build a relationship between the two communities by meeting up with outdoor swimmers and introducing them to the opportunity to dip naked. After all, the two groups have a lot in common: we love being in the water and we know how good the great outdoors is for our physical and mental health. So – why not do it naked?

Steve began getting together with social swimmers like the Blue Tits. The more he swam with them, the more he spread the word about skinny-dipping and the more people became interested in the BN Great British Skinny Dip. He even gave lifts to those who wanted to join in and has now posted a toolkit on the BN members’ forum which explains how others can encourage more skinny-dipping by open water swimmers in their areas.

Steve, Sarah-Jayne and Ems now swim naked early every Friday morning, all year round, and are joined by others – some naked and some in swimwear. They call it “Freedom Friday.”

What’s the best part about being in water naked? I ask the three.

“The feeling of freedom, and not having to faff with swimwear, transforms the experience,” says Steve.

“The feel of the water on your skin,” says Sarah-Jayne. The feeling of being in, and accepting, your natural form.

“It boosts confidence and it makes everybody normal, says Ems. “You can see everybody’s different shapes and sizes” but no one is judging anyone.

I agree with all of this, and I say, jokingly, that skinny-dipping means not having to pack a lot of swimwear for naturist trips. I also tell them that I feel more confident about how I look when I’m naked than when I’m clothed because there’s nowhere to hide: you are what you are and you just have to accept and enjoy it.

So we pootle around some more in the cool, silky lake water, talking about how wonderful it feels and how easy it is to chat and make friends with other naked swimmers.

And then Sarah-Jane says, “I’m ready for tea and cake,” and with those magic words, we get out.