to think its a bit skanky to NOT shower before you go swimming in a public pool?

[superv1xen]

(well ANY pool really! but particularly ones that other people have to use)

i regularly go swimming and at my gym there are loads of signs everywhere asking that people shower BEFORE getting in the pool, and i always do, including my hair

but i always notice LOADS of people getting in dry who have blatantly not showered, and i can't believe the pool attendants don't say anything. (well they are probably not allowed )

i know theres loads of chemicals and chlorine to kill germs etc but i still think its inconsiderate and gross not to shower before swimming.

Never showered before I went swimming. I shower every morning so wouldnt see a need unless I had been in the gym and was really sweaty or something. Never heard of being asked to either.

Oh really!

How clean do you think standing under a trickle of water for a few seconds in your swimsuit actually makes you? It's not going to wash your arse is it? And that's where the bulk of the pathogens congregate.

Chlorine will kill any trace of sweat off better than standing under a luke warm cold shower for a few seconds.

But the chlorine reacting with the sweat is what makes your eyes sting, not the chorine itself. Which is why it's better to be clean before entering the pool.

oh dear i am a skank then

still been called worse things :o

really i have never given it a second thought

I think its about rinsing off chemicals on your skin and hair to reduce the chemical load in the water - shampoo, deo, styling products, moisturiser etc.

My mum and her cronies accoss folk in her local pool who don't shower. Can't say I'm much fussed myself - I think we would need an advertising campaign/ education programme to have any chance of changing behaviour in this country wrtt.

In Iceland (like Denmark) they are also strict about showering before swimming, complete with signs up showing you which bits to concentrate on!
And it's not standing in your costume under a pathetic dribble of water either, you are expected to take off your costume, shower (properly,with shower gel) and shampoo your hair before swimming.

It doesn't seem odd at all there, because eveyone just does it - you wouldn't be allowed into the pool otherwise - and I must admit that these days it does seem a bit manky in this country that no-one bothers. I guess that's why the level of chlorine etc in Icelandic pools is able to be much lower than here.

I think you need to worry more about the chlorine reacting with all the piss.

My gym asks pool users to shower before using the pool, but not everyone does it. I find it quite unpleasant to swim near someone that's got perfume on or scented body lotions. Quite often, I see young women swimming with a face full of makeup!

I read that chlorine can mix with perfume, make-up, body lotion, shampoo etc to create something toxic. Or did I imagine that?

I think it can make swamp creatures

Something went wrong with the filter at our pool and all the crud surcharged into the car park.

It was most unpleasant.

Drifts of pale brown lard

I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference whether you have a shower in your swimsuit or not first, it's a stupid rule. I do generally get myself wet in a derisory way if there is a sign.

No-one showers first before swimming lessons we go to. You weren't expected to shower before going in the pool on holiday.

When you say 'shower' do you mean with soap/shampoo and all that?

The showers I've ever seen people use at pools only mean a quick rinse under the water which people only do for 2 seconds cos they think they should.

I think it's a faff, doesn't achieve much and anyway the chlorine kills the bugs. I bet the 'showering' doesn't achieve much really.

BTW, people used to go to the public baths for that reason. To bathe. Not really to swim.

I just jump straight in TBH

You are about to get in a pool of water containing a heady mix of other people's body fluids and you are worried about whether they showered??

Our local pool has the same signs. I'm usually a bit of a stickler for being considerate (not necessarily following the rules though) and I don't do it.

The water is freezing and so the last thing I want to do is have a lovely hot shower before plunging into the icy waters of the 'big pool'.

The top 4 inches of pool water has Urine, fecal matter, saliva, blood, ear wax and semen in. Don't think showering is going to help!

KatieWatie - surely they drain and refill pools????

What's under the top 4 inches? better, or worse?

I agree, a quick shower in a swimming costume will achieve very little unless you are actually covered in sand. It's unlikely to remove sun cream, for example

oh god, acsec I'm never swimming again! True or not, it's a yucky thought.

It's true. My friend is a swimming coach. I swim with my friend who tries to make me laugh so I will swallow the water! She's a meany!

Id not shower before I went swimming.

I shower in the morning anyway. I'm not showering again to get in the pool when i only showered a couple of hours earlier and will have to shower again afterwards to get the chlorine off.

As others have said warm water wont make you magically sterile anyway.