Were You Taught to Swim as a Fundy?

[pastor's wife]

hI am thankful that I had never heard of separate swimming times for guys and girls. That might be because we were in New England not the south but probably moreso because we were in fundy-lite circles.

I hadn't heard of "mixed bathing" until I got to BJU and thought their use of the term highly unsuitable! Funny how they could make something sound so weird and sinful that I'd been doing innocently all my life!

[Papa Bear]

Our church and school were more Fundy-lite (GARBC). If it wasn't a church or school sponsored activity, they didn't try to tell us what we could wear. When we went to Bible Camp (also GARBC) there were rules about swimsuits (basically, no two-pieces for the girls, and no Speedos for the guys.) Some years, they were a little more specific (guys' swim trunks had to be a certain length, certain styles forbidden) and some years they required a t-shirt or cover-up going to and from the beach.

Usually the guys and girls were on different schedules, e.g., girls swim while guys play sports, then switch, so we weren't usually in the water at the same time, but there would be a few evenings with free swim time for everyone, we all swam together, and it was no big deal. Some years, the camp director would require t-shirts over swimsuits at the beach, but only when it was guys and girls together, and other years guys and girls swam together in just normal swimsuits (but still no two-pieces or Speedos.) When I first heard about a rule against "mixed bathing" I thought they meant co-ed showers. I thought, "Duh! Why would anyone think that was allowed?"

I don't remember swimming lessons at Bible Camp, but almost all of the kids could swim, at least a little. You had to pass a swimming test to go outside the shallow area and swim to the raft. When my dad did his graduate work summers at PCC (he taught at our christian school) we travelled to Florida and spent the summer at a campground with a swimming pool. We were in the pool every day, and he would teach us to swim evenings and weekends. I wasn't likely to drown (which finally gave me the courage to get baptized) but I learned to swim much better later on, when my dad directed a non-Fundy camp for several summers in a row. We had a Red Cross certified Water Safety Instructor giving daily swimming lessons to the campers, so I got five weeks of daily lessons every summer.

[pastor's wife]

Papa Bear, my church was GARBC too. The rules you describe sound like what I experienced. Thankfully nothing like the kind of crazy some people experienced!

[Away-From-The-Umbrella]

Our fundy church would have beach activities - but you were never allowed in the water, except to wade up to the level of your knees. And of course they always went to the coldest northern beach to avoid the naked masses.

Really, what was the point of even being at the beach? Why drive almost 2 hours just to BBQ and play some games and not being able to really swim?

[Presbygirl]

(05-14-2012 12:56 PM)Away-From-The-Umbrella Wrote:  Our fundy church would have beach activities - but you were never allowed in the water, except to wade up to the level of your knees. And of course they always went to the coldest northern beach to avoid the naked masses.

Really, what was the point of even being at the beach? Why drive almost 2 hours just to BBQ and play some games and not being able to really swim?

Stop calling it the beach!! It's the COAST. Good grief. Beaches are for heathens. The coast is for Christians.

[redbeardiam]

(05-14-2012 12:06 PM)Papa Bear Wrote:  When I first heard about a rule against "mixed bathing" I thought they meant co-ed showers. I thought, "Duh! Why would anyone think that was allowed?"

One of my all-time favorite quotes from my father - I was going on a Jr./Sr. trip with the youth group, and the leader asked Dad if he had a problem with mixed bathing.

Dad thought about it for a minute and said, "Yes, but mixed swimming is okay."

[Presbygirl]

(05-15-2012 02:04 PM)redbeardiam Wrote:  

(05-14-2012 12:06 PM)Papa Bear Wrote:  When I first heard about a rule against "mixed bathing" I thought they meant co-ed showers. I thought, "Duh! Why would anyone think that was allowed?"

One of my all-time favorite quotes from my father - I was going on a Jr./Sr. trip with the youth group, and the leader asked Dad if he had a problem with mixed bathing.

Dad thought about it for a minute and said, "Yes, but mixed swimming is okay."

Exactly.

[JessB]

I have a friend who went to BJU many years ago, and when she first the rule against "mixed swimming", she thought it was about whites and blacks swimming together.

[pastor's wife]

(05-15-2012 11:54 AM)Presbygirl Wrote:  Stop calling it the beach!! It's the COAST. Good grief. Beaches are for heathens. The coast is for Christians.

A fellow-teacher jokingly told me this my first year of teaching when I told her how I liked the beach. I'd never heard of that play on words before, but wasn't surprised seeing how fundies had been using "films" for "movies" for years, apparently thinking it sounded less sinful. *rolls eyes*

[Darrell]

I grew up on an island. We did plenty of swimming.