So that deck changing thread got me thinking, what is normal for public sessions? I'm going back to my UK/USA comparisons........
When I took my kids swimming to the public sessions in the UK, I'd pack up a bag of suits, towels, floats, toys etc and schlepp along to the pool to change in the changing rooms.
Now an FYI 'cos things are different here....Changing rooms consist of a number of cubicles for people to change in private as well as a communal change area and are split between male and female change - although some pools have a changing village with huge family-sized cubicles and no communal change. All modern (ie non-victorian) UK pools have pretty good changing facilities, even those with not much more than a 25m 6 lane pool.
So I take my kids to our local-ish pool here in Texas. 8 lane, 25yd competition pool, plus leisure pool with waterslide, lazy river and kids play structure and walk into the women's locker room.
It is full of lockers and has 2 small benches...eh? Where do I change???
Anyway being a communal-change gal, I get myself and the kids suited up and we swim. We finish swimming, we shower, remove suits wrap ourselves in a towel and dress by one of the benches.
Now whilst drying off and dressing there are a few ladies/kids shuffling around changing in the toilets and dressing in the showers. I get a couple of odd looks standing there in my underwear directing 2 small children to dress as well, but don't care - we're all naked under our clothes after all.
While we were swimming a number of families came in, most it seemed already in their suits, they "undressed" on the deck and when they left they wrapped a towel around the kids or pulled on a t-shirt and that was it. And it wasn't summer! All I could think of was the chlorine eating away at their suits.
So what is normal? and am I the only female living in Texas not afraid to strip down in the women's locker room? :afraid:
And do they build pools here with crappy changing because no-one uses it? Or does no-one use the locker rooms because they're so crappy?
Or is this just a Texas thing, not a USA thing? :D
when my family was back home in texas visiting my parents, I was planing on taking our youngest daughter just under 2 yrs in the mens locker room with me and my wife our 4.5 yrs old daughter with her.
since my mom works at the YMCA she knew the rules and told us kids that age were not allowed (or it was not liked by members) in the main locker rooms and there was a family changing room.
ok we could deal with that, but the funny thing was it was on the other side of the building. we had to walk nearly 100m through the halls in our suits (wrapped up of course in towels as to not scare the locals by walking around in our suits ;)
But I've changed over the last 9 yrs. through my entire swimming carreer in the US I don't remember ever showering naked. in HS I would come to the pool in my suit and go home in it. in college I changed in front of my locker and that was it. after practice showers could take 20-30 minutes but I changed at my locker.
but now I don't seem to have as much of a problem to take a real shower at the pool, even in a 16 shower stall. I don't seem to care as much about changing either.
and over here we have both men and women that service the men's changing rooms.
when my family was back home in texas visiting my parents, I was planing on taking our youngest daughter just under 2 yrs in the mens locker room with me and my wife our 4.5 yrs old daughter with her.
since my mom works at the YMCA she knew the rules and told us kids that age were not allowed (or it was not liked by members) in the main locker rooms and there was a family changing room.
ok we could deal with that, but the funny thing was it was on the other side of the building. we had to walk nearly 100m through the halls in our suits (wrapped up of course in towels as to not scare the locals by walking around in our suits ;)
But I've changed over the last 9 yrs. through my entire swimming carreer in the US I don't remember ever showering naked. in HS I would come to the pool in my suit and go home in it. in college I changed in front of my locker and that was it. after practice showers could take 20-30 minutes but I changed at my locker.
but now I don't seem to have as much of a problem to take a real shower at the pool, even in a 16 shower stall. I don't seem to care as much about changing either.
and over here we have both men and women that service the men's changing rooms.
