Cape Cod in January - Our new friends.

We had been talking to the girls the night of the swim, and some of their history came up. The next morning the whole crew, both families showed up for breakfast around the same time as us, so we all ended up together. We all kind of looked at each other with what seemed to be a fear of awkwardness, and then the women just burst our laughing. With the ice broken, we had a long breakfast and a few extra cups of coffee. Sue said it first What the hell were we thinking? and they all laughed again. Sue made a comment about the extra laundry, and the other two agreed, but said the fun was worth it. Then the discussion turned to what brought it all on.

Both Carly and Sam had been wet in their clothes before, at least since they were teenagers. Carly, short for Carlotta, grew up outside of Boston in a fairly strict Italian-American Catholic family. As a teenager, her whole group of friends used to hang out and swim in an old quarry. After some kid got hurt, the cops cracked down on them, and even the mere act of walking to or from the area in a bathing suit got you a ride in a cruiser and a phone call to your folks to pick you up at the station. So to try and thwart the cops, they would just wear their jeans, tube tops, halters, or tied off t-shirts and swim in them when they could, hoping to be dry enough for the walk home. It seemed to work, and was the beginning of her "defiance about certain swimming rules. But it wasn't until her Senior year in high school that she did it in good clothes.

It was the homecoming weekend and everybody turned out for the Saturday afternoon football game, in the late October cold and rain. The field was already wet and muddy, and shortly after the game started it got worse. Because of the crowd, nobody wanted to cancel the game, so it went on. While the fans mostly came well-prepared for the weather, the players and cheer leaders were in uniform, as always. And that is where the trouble began. By half time they were all soaked, and the players covered in mud as well. The cheer leaders were dressed in their heavy wool turtlenecks in the school colors with a stretchy turtleneck underneath in a complimenting color, showing around the neck and wrists. They wore the usual pleated woolen skirts, white socks and sneakers.

By half-time, the socks and sneakers, and most of their legs, were covered in mud. The half-time show was a disaster because the center of the field was extremely muddy, and by the time it was over, at least half the cheer leaders of both teams were covered in mud from falling while trying to do their routines. The rain never let up throughout the rest of the game, and by the end, hair was plastered to heads and faces, skirts were muddy and pasted to legs, and sweaters sagged. But spirits were high because they had won, and all of the participants headed to the locker rooms with a spring in their step and a smile on their faces. The locker rooms were in the Athletic Wing of the school, which housed the gym, handball courts, a wrestling room, and the pool. While the football players opted for the locker room and hot showers, the cheerleaders for some reason opted for the swimming pool first, and jumped in dressed in full uniform, muddy sneakers and all. Shortly thereafter they were joined by the girls from the rival school and both groups refused to get out, in spite of repeated scolding, warnings, and outright threats from their adult coaches.

After about 20 minutes of this, they of course did get out and go to their locker rooms to dry off and change, but the damage had been done. All involved were suspended for the next three games, as well as suspended from all extra curricular activities for the next 3 weeks. The following weekends 'game was not the same without the cheerleaders and by Monday, a student/parent petition resulted in an emergency assembly. Students spoke their part about how unfair the punishment was, and even the administration admitted that no uniforms were damaged, nor was the pool, except that quite a bit of dirt had to be cleaned from the filter. They did, however, refuse to rescind the punishment. Moments later, the entire student body walked out of school and the police had to be called.

It took two days, but parental pressure forced the issue to another assembly. Now the administration dug in its' heels and actually presented an addendum to the student handbook, retroactively making swimming clothed during non-pool hours a disciplinary infraction. In addition, each time a student stood up to speak, a vice principle took down their name and that night, parents were called and told that their child was defying the school staff and subject to disciplinary action. By ten a.m. the students had a plan.

The next day, Friday, the entire student body waited in the parking lot for school to start. Moments after the first bell, when they should have been on their way to class, the Principal came out with some staff members and ordered them all into the building. He was met with a group of members of the student council who presented them a petition proclaiming their Solidarity with the cheerleaders. In return, he promised that anyone whose parents had already been notified of their defiance would be suspended, and reiterated his order to immediately get into the school, threatening to call the police again.

Much to his surprise, without a peep, the students headed into the building. What he didn't notice, perhaps because of the chilly October air, that every girl in the school was dressed in almost the same way skirts or dress pants, sneakers, and layered sweaters and turtlenecks, some very closely matching the type worn by the cheerleaders. In fact, though they were mixed throughout the crowd, the cheerleaders were dressed in exactly the same thick, white turtleneck sweaters that they had bought at Sears the night before, along with a matching style of dress slacks. Like a uniform of sorts. Had he noticed, he may have reconsidered opening the doors. Because return to the building they did, and each and every girl in the school proceeded to the pool, where the cheerleaders, now all together, gave a few uncomplimentary cheers to the administration, and jumped into the pool. They were followed enthusiastically by the upper class girls, and somewhat reluctantly by the Sophomores and Freshmen, but in the end, every single girl in the school was in the pool fully dressed and swimming or bobbing around. After the administration showed up and flipped out, they got out, dried off as best they could, or changed into dry clothes if they brought them, they went to class.

Saturdays' game still had no cheerleaders, and hundreds of calls went out to parents over the weekend about the incident, with seemingly little support to the Principal from any parent. Monday was quiet and the school day started out normally. At noon, during the second lunch, the student council approached the Principal again, with the same request, and the same result. At the 1:45 bell, which summoned students to homeroom for accountability and to get ready to leave for the day, once again every girl in the school went for a swim. The Principal was told that this would happen every day until he changed his mind. On Tuesday, he made sure all of the doors to the pool were locked. By Wednesday, the students had a key. They also knew that a lifesaving class would be taking place during the period that began at 10 a.m. The uniform of the day for the girls was now jeans and sweaters. Once again, teachers knew after one look at the homeroom classes that it would be another interesting day. When the bell rang at 9:55 to change classes, the group caught the staff by surprise, found a couple open doors to the pool, and used the key on another. Shoes off and in they went. Only this time it was different. A lot of the guys, pressured by their girlfriends, joined them, some stripped off their shirts, some went in the same uniform as the others. And this time they were joined by four female teachers. When word spread throughout the school, most staff responded to the pool. Within minutes, 8 of the 10 remaining female teachers were in the water, the last 2 claiming they were too old but they'd cheer from the sidelines. They all had their fun in the water, made their point to the administration, and quietly squished off to where they were supposed to be before the period ended. They also promised to be back, again and again until either the school committee or the superintendent intervened.

They didn't have to wait long. News of yet another incident reached the superintendent and he was in the building before the end of the day. He read all of the reports, looked at the huge lists of students to be suspended or otherwise disciplined, and summoned the student council to the office. Calmly, he told them to knock it off. He made it clear that they made their point, but it had to stop. He also made them a deal apologize to the Principal and staff over the PA system, specifically for the disrespect shown them by some students, and he would rescind all discipline, including lifting the suspension of the cheerleaders. By this time all of the suspended and still damp cheerleaders were in the outer office and heard the proposal. A quick conference among them and the student council representatives resulted in a sincere apology over the PA system, which the Principal accepted graciously.

The busses were late leaving the school that day. At the final bell the cheering squad lead almost if not all the girls down the hall and into the pool for one last swim. The female teachers joined them, every one of them having brought appropriate clothes in anticipation of getting wet yet again. (Apparently jeans and sweaters wear better in the water than business attire, which is what they were required to wear for work)

So Carlotta learned that sometimes it's ok to break the rules to have a little fun, or to make a point. Not a single one of the students involved got any grief from their parents as long as no clothes were permanently ruined and the girls did their own laundry. Although most parents thought swimming fully clothed was more than a little weird, (particularly the majority which came from strict Roman Catholic families and parochial education) there were more than a few mothers who helped their daughters pick out the right swimwear for the day, and even a few that lent them clothes so they'd both look good when wet, and not freeze because of it. More than a couple girls, Carly included, never missed the opportunity for a clothed swim again, particularly if it was against the rules.

As for the Superintendent, he really had no choice. His wife had been a cheerleader in both high school and college, and couldn't count the times that she had done the same thing when she was younger.


Carly told Sue that Phil just played along at first, that he thought it was queer, but after a few times, especially when they had sex afterwards, they usually plan it out together. Sam's ex wanted no part of any of it. He had a low opinion of anybody that even hinted at getting wet in their clothes, and would even make comments on kids playing out in the rain or in splash parks if they didn't have a proper bating suit. Sam, on the other hand, could have cared less. She grew up on a farm in up state New York, and like most farm kids, saw absolutely nothing wrong with jumping in the pond in your clothes if you were hot and sweaty from working. It was considered pretty normal in her world to take a horse for a swim on a hot day, even if you had jeans on. Her and her friends had also spent a lot of time mudding in jeeps, on quads, and on dirt bikes. Sometimes the girls, in particular, would end up mud wrestling before the day was over, or getting into some other shenanigans that would leave them in a condition that wasn't allowed in the house. The solution was almost always a pond, the lake, or the river, or sometimes the outside shower which many farmhouses had. Wash yourself, your clothes, and then come in.

Even in college, aside from the aftermath of mud volleyball, some of the girls in the dorm would end up in the showers fully dressed. Usually it was on a dare, it was late at night, and there was alcohol involved. Sam laughed and even kind of grinned and told us that it was also a good way to hide the fact that you didn't hold you beer too well after a night out. She said that many times they'd be out at a keg party and have to walk back across campus. Usually the girls grouped together for safety, and no matter how recently they used the bathroom before they left, it was inevitable that someone would need to pee. While the bushes got well-watered many times, there were also a couple where it was impossible to find a spot. The best bet was to get back to the dorm, quickly. And don't even mention the fact that you had to pee. In spite of every one of them knowing this, in a drunken state, it would come out. And if you said it, you got tripped, tickled, squeezed, and teased to see how long you could hang on. Even the stairs and the long hallway to the bathroom presented a drunken challenge. And sometimes you didn't quite make it.

She laughed about the horror of it the first time it happened to her, and how her friends laughed, and how eventually it happened to every one of them after a binge of drinking. And it became almost routine, they would bet on it, dare each other, and sometimes there was even sympathy peeing. One girl would let go, and another, or maybe a couple others would either hear it and not be able to hang on any longer, or just smile and laugh, and let go themselves. They'd giggle and run to the bathroom before anybody saw their wet pants and jump in the showers with their clothes on. The few times they were busted they just used the excuse that they were drunk and needed to sober off before they got sick. As she moved up through the grades and moved into an apartment, she outgrew it all, drank a lot less, and rarely ended up wet, for any reason. She had more important priorities, few opportunities, and no incentive.

A few years after college she ended up married and started a family. The first time Sam and her ex went at it about being wet, it was extremely hot out and all she had on was a sundress. They were at a cookout and it was stifling, and she did the same as several other mothers that had been chasing toddlers around all day. He had a fit. He swore at her and berated her in front of everybody and told her never again. Scared her so much she promised never again, and kept the promise for a couple of years. The next time it happened they were all together with a few other couples in the Green Mountains during peak foliage. The place they were staying at had a bar with an outside patio that went out to the pool. It had been raining earlier in the evening, and cool out, so they dressed for it. The doors to the patio were closed, and everybody was dancing and drinking. The hotter it got inside, the more doors the patrons started to open up, and even though it was cool out, it had stopped raining and the stars were out. People were in and out, going for a smoke, or just going to cool off. Most of them were in fall clothes and had worked up a sweat. A couple of the women in the group ended up by the pool wondering why so much steam was rising from it. They found their answer soon enough the pool was heated. As the night went on, during breaks, different women would go out, soak their dance-tired feet, and come back in. Inevitably a couple of the girls got feeling pretty good near closing time and decided to take a swim. As one was peeling off her clothes, a bartender ran out and told them no nudity, and after a brief exchange of words, 2 fully dressed women were in the middle of the pool, urging their friends to join them. Phil actually pointed it out to Carly and said Go ahead if you want. In she went in corduroys and a turtleneck sweater, followed by a dozen other tipsy women similarly dressed. Fully clothed adult women, many of them professionals, from their late 20's to early 60's going down the slide, splashing around and having a ball. Even the more reluctant ones, at first content with rolling up their jeans and soaking their feet, just dove in. And now the guys were too. Some without shirts, some still fully dressed.

Sam decided she wanted in on the action, standing poolside watching Carly and her other friends. Dressed in jeans, work boots and a thick black turtleneck sweater with a pearl necklace and matching ear rings, she sat down and started to take her boots off. He ex saw this, walked over to her and grabbed her by the arm, hurting her, swearing at her and telling her they're leaving. She told him ok and as soon as he released her she stepped to the edge of the pool and dove in. By the time she got to the room, he was asleep on the couch. They didn't speak that morning, he went to breakfast on his own before she got up. He returned just as she was getting dressed, he called her a retard and asked her what did I tell you before?

She never answered. Instead of the cute western outfit she was going to put on, she pulled out a pair of tight jeans and a cotton turtleneck, threw a chunky high neck sweater on over it, put on her old sneakers and tied her hair back in a pony tail. She picked up her wet clothes from the night before, put them in a trash bag, and walked out the door telling him I'm going to do laundry. She went to Carly's room, told her get dressed which Carly, after one look at her understood fully. Sam then swung by the laundry room, throwing the clothes in a dryer. She met Carly by the pool for breakfast, even though the temperature was still in the high 40's. They ate, had tea, and waited. Eventually her ex showed up and started berating her again, in spite of please from both women to drop it. Finally, she had enough, she stood up, smiled at him and walked over to the pool, followed closely by Carly. The two women looked back at him, smiled, waved, and walked down the steps into the pool, fully dressed, and swam to the deep end. The few people there just laughed and smiled, and finally one of the women who had been there the night before got up, walked over and asked if they wanted company, slipped her boots off and jumped in with them. While her husband just smiled and shouted to her that you're doing the laundry again!, Sam's ex threw what could best be described as a tantrum, storming away swearing at her, him, and the other two women.

Sam never saw her ex again until the divorce hearing, and never again since. She got the child support sent direct deposit to her bank account and the kids spent a couple of weeks with him during summer vacation and around Christmas, but he would always have someone else pick them up. She was fine with that, and fine without his abuse over something so trivial.

For the most part, it became kind of a joke between the women, something to laugh about, dare each other to do, and to shock the stiffs around them. Different people do different things to blow off stress and this was their favorite thing.

As we talked with them both, they laughed about the fun they've had over the years shocking people, and sometimes even themselves, and how they've even been shocked a few times when they found out that other women were into the same thing.

Both Sue and I got a laugh out of it and realized that we were relative newbies compared to these two. On the way back to the room, we kind of agreed that if we liked doing it and it didn't cause any serious trouble, then so be it if the opportunity arose. It was fun, we got a lot of laughs out of it, and as Carly and Sam both said, it did relieve a lot of stress.