EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 5 (UPI) — A group of naturists in Canada have traded in wetsuits for birthday suits and begun a series of nude scuba diving events — despite the fact that it’s still wintertime.
The group known as Cottontail Corner rented out a pool at Scona Pool in Edmonton to hold their first nude scuba diving class, or “nudie swim”.
Teacher Ken Holliday said he has no problem teaching the nude class, as he’s taught abroad in Spain and Africa where the practice is commonplace.
“I thought I would give it a shot,” he told the CBC. “When they first came out of the change room it was a little different. You’re so used to seeing people with clothes on.”
Holliday said he gets too cold to swim in anything less than a wetsuit and encouraged students to wear a t-shirt to prevent chaffing from the equipment, but most chose to remain completely nude.
Cottontail Corner started the pool scuba lessons as a way to continue their meetings in the winter as the frigid temperatures moved them away from their summer meeting spot at a clothing-optional beach in Devon.
Children and families are welcome to join in the nude dives, but parents are required to present identification to assure that the children are really theirs, out of sensitivity concerns.
Event organizer Emily Lamoureux told the Edmonton Journal that she doesn’t share in the concerns, as she said the parents that attend are just as protective of their children as “textile parents”.
The group is planning a second swim in March and hopes to hold more events next year.
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