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Can Nuns Swim?
You never know what the digital mailbag is going to pop out. This morning it’s a question from Katy.
Hi there! I have a rather silly question but, can nuns swim? Like go to the beach/pool and swim, are they allowed?
I love this question! At one level it does seem a bit silly as Katy noted, but it’s still a good question that people aren’t always sure how to answer.
First, not all nuns can swim. It is not a divinely-bestowed skill that we automatically receive upon profession of vows. “… I vow celibacy, poverty and obedience for the rest of my life and so do promise to cherish and use my sacred nun gift of swimming for good and not for evil …” Some of us know how to swim, and some of us? well, not so much. I actually was in the “not so much” category until after my final vows (hmmm … maybe the gift only comes after final vows??). I actually taught myself to swim because I had entered myself in a triathlon and figured it would be helpful to know how to swim! But I digress …
Okay so that was the silly part of the question/answer (though the last part is in fact true). Your question is really about whether or not nuns are allowed to swim rather than their actual ability to swim. 
There is no general prohibition against nuns swimming. In fact many nuns I know swim. Some orders may not have ready access to water to swim in which may prevent them from swimming. Or some may not allow sisters to wear clothing other than the habit and other religious garb. In those cases, some nuns may not be allowed to swim. Other than that, by all means, nuns can and do swim. You might be thinking that the swimsuit is too revealing for a nun, but it’s appropriate for a nun to don a modest swimsuit when at the beach or pool. And as with our other dress, we maintain modesty so you probably won’t see us in bikinis or swimwear that is eye-catching.
Well, I do have one exception to that last statement. Sister Maxine can attest to this story. We had some ministry to attend to in Florida earlier in the year. It was winter here and of course beautiful in Florida. I forgot to take a bathing suit because I’m so used to it being winter. We get down there and find a great pool and whirlpool where we are staying, and of course the beaches are spectacular. And I, I have no swimsuit. So I run out to Target to pick up a “modest swimsuit” but it’s Florida for heaven’s sake and apparently all the modest swimsuits are sold out. So I end up with this funky two-piece suit (not a bikini, thank God) with all kinds of gold and tiger stripes on it with a top that ties around the neck.
The suit was a fashion nightmare but folks, it was an emergency situation.
So there you have it. More information about nuns and swimming then you ever thought possible!
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Sister Julie:
Hey, don’t have any pics with you in the funky bathing suit? It sounds quite attractive … I would have done the same thing. There is little keeping me out of a pool, the ocean and especially a jacuzzi!
I just came back from a retreat at the ocean. I can tell you, most of the nuns on my retreat definetely do swim (except for the super elderly ones). Some of them are practically fish. Quite a number of them were raised summers at the shore so the water is like their second home. You should see the tans on some of these women. One of my sister friends also belongs to a gym at home and swims laps 2-3 times a week. And yes, they all wear modest bathing suits – mainly plain, ordinary one pieces in blacks and shades of blue.
Funny, I was watching that show “18 Kids and Counting”. They belong to some sort of super conservative Protestant group, seems almost close to the Mennonites or Amish where all the girls wear long skirts and have long hair. They have their kids wear something they call modesty suits. They look sort of like wet suits with elbow length sleeves, knee length pants and high necklines. It’s kind of weird. Wearing a regular bathing suit – a modest one as the sisters do – is far less attention grabbing than those suits the Duggar kids don.
Oh, Sister Julie – one of my sister friends showed me the IHM vacation home in Stone Harbor, NJ. It is huge and right on the beach with phenomenal views. The property covers an entire city block – quite impressive!
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
dee
The Sisters of the Humility of Mary (CHM) in Davenport, Iowa, are fortunate to have a swimming pool within the Humility of Mary Center. When the building was built they were not going to go to the extra cost, but a friend of the congregation contributed monies insisting they be spent on the pool. The water is always nice and warm, good for aching joints, and many of the sisters swim regularly for their exercise. As a lay staff person for the CHMs, I was fortunate to be able to teach my daughter to swim in the CHM pool.
Katy isn’t the only one to have wondered about this question! Thanks for answering
I also want to say how much I enjoyed the live audio discussion yesterday. Total thumbs up for doing it again!
Marigold.
Aw, c’mon, Sis! Why not post that picture for “Monday is Nunday”?? (=^D
I remember our annual pool day in high school. Freshmen and Seniors would have half day in school the first day and the Sophomores and Juniors the next. At lunchtime, we were dismissed to walk a few blocks down the street to the elementary school which had an Olympic-sized swimming pool. We got to enjoy the pool until dismissal time, when the nuns would shoo us away, don their own one piece black suits and white rubber caps and swim until whenever (time for Vespers, perhaps?)
How did I get to witness this Nun Plunge? Well, there was this knothole in the fence…. <8^0
Finding a decent swimsuit is a nightmare for anyone–not just nuns.
Interestingly enough, when I went to Fiat Days in my diocese, a question came up about “what do you miss most.” One novice, from the Sisters of Reparation, said swimming. Her order does not allow her to go swimming. It was a really big sacrifice for her because she was a swimmer. Her dad asked her about that and she replied, “I’m not going to think about it.”
This has nothing to do with this subject, but check this out. A nun caught a burgular in MO! Here is the link. It also has a video.
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/content/breaking/story/Nun-Helps-Nab-Independence-Burglary-Suspect/51YeGLlNBUK78nPdI5tWpw.cspx
Did Sr. Maxine go swimming?
She sure did. But she was a prepared nun. I was not. That’s okay because I splashed her to make up for her mockery of my outfit.
This is an interesting tie-in with the controversy in France for a woman who wanted to wear a ‘burkini’ to the local pool… maybe that would be a solution for those people who have issues with showing their body.
Also, the ‘modesty’ suits are very akin to the old wool swim suits that woman were made to wear. Imagine swimming for a gold medal in the olympics in a wool suit! I would trade those for the awful tiger stripes any day!
Also, if you shop at the ‘larger’ (read: actual size of most women) clothing stores, they have many more modest suits… even in ‘smaller’ sizes… ( I know… it was an emergency… but if you have a choice of going to a ‘Catherine’s’ or ‘Lane Bryant’ you might have better luck than a Target…
Elizabeth, Had no idea there were burkinis nor that they were controversial. Wow. I wonder if the nun swimming costumes compared in any way. Another reader sent me a link to a modesty suit website called HydroChic where you can “Look great & stay sun safe with the right coverage & flattering support.”
I am reminded of going on vaction with a friend of mine who is a sister. Her order wears a black a-line habit with a white collar and a black veil. A non-Catholic friend of mine who was on the trip with us was rather surprised when Sister arrived at the pool in her bathing suit–black of course. Sister looked at my friend and said, “We used to have to wear our habits swimming, but we lost so many sisters that way.”
Ok, I just have to share this story told to me by one of our sisters in NJ. We have a beautiful retreat house in Elberon, NJ right on the shore called Stella Maris. Before it became a retreat ministry, Stella Maris was the vacation house for the Sisters. Each Sister got 10 days of vacation at the shore in the summer. This was in the late 1950s. They could go swimming, but had to wear these ancient swimming “costumes” with long sleeves and a knee length skirt. This particular sister was swimming in the ocean one day, and the skirt came up over her head! She was really worried she’d down, so she talk to the Superior. The Superior agreed that the ancient swimming costumes were ancient and had to go. So, the next year, the Superior of each house got a letter directing them to buy black swimsuits for all the Sisters, and to also buy long sleeve black t-shirts to wear under them. Apparently, you could show legs because they were underwater but not arms because they’re out in the air? I’m not sure of the logic. In any case, the local Superior in the house where this Sister lived couldn’t find long sleeve black t-shirts so she bought short sleeved ones. When this Sister went to the vacation house that summer, she happily put on the swimming suit and t-shirt provided and went into the ocean. Soon, however, the Superior was out on the beach wagging her finger at her. “Sister, why are your arms showing?”. She had to explain that her local Superior couldn’t find long sleeved black t-shirts. The Superior told her to go up to the attic, find some black stockings, cut them, and sew them onto the arms of her swimsuit. The Sister did as she was told. She actually thought it worked better and was less bulky than the t-shirts. Until she came out of the salt water and saw … that the “arms” to her swimsuit which were really stockings had turned green!!
Now, you’ve read the story. But you have to imagine it being told at breakneck pace by one of the funniest nuns on the planet, while you are sitting in lounge chairs 50 years later at the actually beach where this story took place.
Priceless. Thanks to Sister Joan for sharing her story with me so I could share it with you!
Triathlons while being a nun, swim suit buying and learning how to swim! Have you ever thought of doing a reality TV show! I laughed at your stories and really enjoy your blog!
Thanks SwimCoachFinder! We are actually doing live podcasts now. The first one was just done on Wednesday and I’m cleaning it up a bit to add it to the archives. Our next one is on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CST.
We religious men may be a bit “fortunate” in this respect but similar stories are no less funny.
Not long after the Vatican II Council, a group of friars decided to go swimming at a isolated beach quite far away from most people. Guess what – as soon as they came out from the car, they saw a group of Sisters swimming – but all were wearing the full habit.
My own experience: we religious men and women get a free swimming pass from the local De La Salle School which has a swimming pool, courtesy of the Brothers of course. So it is so easy to bump into the clerics and the religious. I am still adapting myself to see Fr S0-and-so or Sr Whats-her-name in bathing suits, even they are modest.
Dee, It’s interesting, the Sisters whose communities are on the coast have a much easier relationship with the water, swimming, and swimsuits. Also, many communities have retreat homes on the water which the sisters take full advantage of during the summer!
I’ve been to the IHM place in Stone Harbor. It belongs to our cousins the Immaculata IHMs who are based in Philadelphia. It is huge and they can fill the place! And apparently the beach that their property is adjacent to is theplace for surfing. In fact there’s an annual Nun’s Beach Surf Invitational.
Hi! I am actually commenting on lourdesgirl101′s post about the nun and the robber. I saw the newscast last night. It was Fox, so that may explain it. The report was riddled with bad comments such as the robber was “not on a mission from God” or “a man of the cloth”. I smiled at the first one, but they kept coming, which seemed to me to belittle the incident. The man had a gun for goodness sake and the reporter is coming across with zingy one-liners. I thought of your blog and wondered if anyone else had seen the report since it was an instance of nuns in the media. Did anyone else see it?
When i was in primary school the only pool we had access to was a half length pool which was inside the convent next door.
Sr. Julie, Susan and others:
It seems most of the congregations in NJ or the Philly area have vacation homes/retreat houses on the beach. I think I mentioned I go to the Sisters of St. Joseph one in Cape May. The Charities have one in Harvey Cedars, the Benedictines in Ventnor, the Filipinis in Mantoloking and yes the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace have one in Elberon. I was just there with my daughter when they filmed the opening sequence for Real Faith TV. They were very gracious hosts.
Really appreciated the teens’ efforts to pass on the faith.
I understand the mens’ communities have them as well. I am just not all that familiar with them for the obvious reason …
dee