Plans for a nudist swim at Calgary’s Southland Leisure Centre in January have some Calgarians saying that they won’t be returning to the centre in the future.
The Calgary Nude Recreation club organized for the swim to take place on Thursday, Jan. 11. But the event was later cancelled by the city, due to backlash from the community, and security concerns.
In the wake of the controversy, egular patron of the Southland Leisure Centre, Andrew McIntyre, said that he was reconsidering using the centre’s facilities.
“I wasn’t happy with the naked swim in general,” said McIntyre. “But I really wasn’t happy that it was going to be at Southland.
“My family and I always use the pool there, and I use the gym,” said McIntyre. “It’s just gross to me.
“Why would I want to swim somewhere where I know other people were butt-naked?” McIntyre asked.
McIntyre said that although he is pleased that the swim was cancelled, he is still upset with the centre for planning the event in the first place.
Rhondda Kerr, guest services manager at the Trico Centre for Family Wellness, said that many people have been mistaking the Trico Centre for Southland.
“We were receiving a lot of complaints and concerns about the nude swim when it was still a go,” said Kerr. “We’re still getting complaints about it even now.
“Many customers get the centres mixed up because they aren’t too far apart,” said Kerr.
“Southland is only about an eight-minute drive from here, so a lot of people get us mixed up on a regular basis.
“They also assume that the Trico Centre is a City of Calgary facility when we’re not,” said Kerr.
“It’s not too big of a deal, but it is unfortunate that our guest services staff are being forced to deal with customer issues about the nude swim, considering that our facility had nothing to do with it.”
Trico is on Bonaventure Drive S.E., just east of SouthCentre mall, while Southland is on 90th Avenue S.W., west of 14th Street.
Keatin Weinberger, guest services associate at the Trico Centre, said that he has talked to many customers who were upset because of the event.
“Almost everyone that I talk to, even if it’s just for a bit, brings up something about the naked swim,” said Weinberger. “I got a lot of unusual questions about it too.
“One person asked me if we were going to clean the pool in a special way afterwards,” said Weinberger.
“After I told them that we weren’t having the swim at our location, they just went on about how pissed they were about it.
“It didn’t bother me too much to hear everyone complain about it though,” said Weinberger. “I liked hearing what everyone had to say.”
Why would I want to swim somewhere where I know other people were butt-naked? – Andrew McIntyre
Not everyone was upset about the nude swim, however.
Jamie Bray, a long-time member at the Trico Centre, said that she was excited when she heard news about the swim.
“I was really disappointed when they cancelled it actually,” said Bray.
“I bought a membership at Trico because the pool is warmer here, but I don’t have a problem with Southland’s facilities at all.
“I was honestly excited about the nude swim and I was planning on attending if I could get a ticket,” said Bray.
“I get why a lot of people had concerns about it, but it was only for one night.
“It’s not an event made for creepy or perverted people,” said Bray. “Everyone takes things way too seriously these days.”
Bray said that she hopes the city will allow another nude swim or a different nude event to take place sometime in the future, and said that she hopes Calgarians will become more open to the idea.
