Remember when you were in school and you had to shower before you jumped into the swimming pool? When you go to the gym, chances are you are expected to shower before you get into the pool.
Do you know why you should shower before you swim? Because you’re bringing organic matter into the swimming pool water if you don’t shower first.
Those organic materials include:
- Hair spray
- Deodorant
- Dead skin
- Fecal matter (gross but true)
- Dirt and debris from daily life
- and more
It, honestly, is good pool etiquette to shower before you get into the pool, but is it a rule you enforce at home? Is it a rule you even follow yourself? Yes, you know your own germs and those of your family, and they may not seem like a big deal, but organic matter builds up and involves using chemicals to clear them out and keep the water clean for swimming.
Should You Shower Before You Swim?
Showering before swimming and it is one of the least-practiced forms of pre-swim hygiene we know of, you rid your body of contaminants. You wouldn’t want someone to jump into your bathtub with you would you? Consider our pool a large bathtub! You don’t have to lather up and shampoo your hair, but a quick rinse is great for anyone to do before they get into the pool.
Instituting a “shower before you swim” practice. Why?
- To get rid of outside contaminants.
- To get rid of organic matter from your body.
- It’s a common courtesy.
- Your pool may require fewer service visits and fewer chemicals if showering before you swim is a rule
- You’re swimming in cleaner water. Bottom line!
If there is organic matter in the water, it could lead to infections, especially if someone swimming has a cut or other open wound.
Change the phrase, “everybody into the pool!” into “everybody into the shower… and then the pool!”