Bare Naked Nudity

A number of news stories in recent days have a common thread -- even if they lack "threads" in the street patois sense.

First came this Daily Telegraph report on July 2, about an interesting experiment in building up office morale:

David Taylor, a business psychologist, told workers at design and marketing onebestway, in Newcastle upon Tyne, that a Naked Friday idea would boost their team spirit.

He was called in to help the firm after six staff members were forced into taking redundancies at the start of the credit crunch.

Mr Taylor told them that, by stripping off their clothes, staff could also strip away inhibitions and talk to each other more openly and honestly.

He said: "Inviting an organisation to go naked is the most extreme technique I've used. It may seem weird but it works. It's the ultimate expression of trust in yourself and each other."

Despite some initial reluctance, nearly all the staff took off all their clothes – except for one man, who wore a posing pouch, and one of two female workers, who kept on black underwear.

The Telegraph article notes, almost as an aside:

The experiment in April was filmed for a one-off TV show, Naked Office, to be screened on July 9 on cable channel Virgin 1.

I don't think many American cable systems carry Virgin 1, but I expect some clamor for it from television consumers in the near future.

Five days later, this story from the Connecticut Post earned international attention:

A 41-year-old man was arrested after appearing for a dental appointment without a lick of clothing, police said.

Christopher Hoff, of Masarik Avenue, was naked -- and five days late -- when he showed up for a Monday appointment at Optimus Dental on Honeyspot Road. He was charged with two counts of disorderly conduct and one count each of public indecency and failure to comply with fingerprinting. He is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond.

When Hoff entered the dental office completely naked Monday afternoon, the startled female receptionist began screaming, police said. He ran from the office, police said, onto Honeyspot Road.

"Honeyspot Road"? Really?

Meanwhile, the story that's being reported all over the place today is about multiple attempts around the country to break the Guinness-confirmed world record for the most people skinny-dipping simultaneously.

In Ivor, Virginia, we learn that as part of a recruitment effort, White Tail Resort (that's almost as precious a name as Honeyspot Road) will try to break the record:

As part of the weekend's events, the resort will be participating in an attempt to make the Guinness Book of World Records as part of the nation's largest simultaneous skinny-dip at 3 p.m. Saturday, and on Sunday there will be a display of antique and customized cars.

For more information, call 1-800-987-6833.

From Palm Springs, California:

The Desert Sun Resort at 1533 N. Chaparral Road expects “hundreds of nude people” in its three pools at noon Saturday, said resort owner Elizabeth Young.

Thousands of other naked people across North America will take the plunge at the same time, she said.

There is no doubt a skinny-dipping record will be set because Guinness just created the category, Young said.

From Cleveland, Georgia:

North Georgia nudists Saturday gathered to set a Guinness World Record for the Largest Skinny-Dip in North America.

Serendipity Park, an American Association for Nude Recreation Club site near Cleveland, was the location of the local observance of a national effort to set the record according to park spokesman Chuck Ray.

“All the AANR clubs are getting together and exactly at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time we’re going to have the largest skinny dipping nation wide,” Ray said. “We’ve been planning this for several months now.”

Jerry Gunn, writing for AccessNorthGa.com, includes a photo of the event and explains the rules:

In order to qualify for the Guinness record, the skinny dippers had to be exactly that, completely nude when counted, but there was a concession for bashful first timers.

Participants not used to skinny-dipping in public were allowed to wear swimsuits into the water but had to remove the swimsuit once in the water and hold it overhead to signal the witnesses.

And in Maryland, courtesy of WBAL-AM radio:

There are two sites in the Baltimore Area where the skinny dipping will take place.

Walter Green is organizing an event at a private club North of Baltimore. Green told WBAL's Shari Elliker that the location is kept private because people have misconceptions about these events, and he wants to protect the site's reputation.

Green says the skinny dip will be preceded by a picnic at 1 p.m. Green said that he isn't sure how many people will attend. He is hoping for 50-100 people.

"I don't have a specific number in mind, just as long as everyone has fun," Green said.

Members of the Maryland Health Society will also participate from their location, at 3000 Patuxent River Road in Davidsonville.

The association on its website bills this as a family event, and as a way to celebrate,"a wholesome tradition as old as mankind and frequently honored in art and movies."

I just can't make this stuff up.

There really is a "Honeyspot Road" in Stratford, Connecticut. You can look it up.



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Me and Michael (Phelps)

I have (on very few occasions) met Olympic athletes in the past, usually people who competed on the U.S. Olympic team many years prior to our encounters. Their Olympic careers were pleasant memories by then, but not the defining characteristic of their lives.

Today, for the first time, I met someone who is not only a current competitor, but the person who represents Olympic competition and success more than any other: Olympic gold-medal winner Michael Phelps, who has participated in three Olympic Games (Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008) and who shows no signs of slowing down.

The occasion was the presentation of the Male Athlete of the Year Award from the United States Sports Academy. My business associate, Joe Szlavik, is a member of the Academy's Board of Visitors. He is also president of the U.S. Sports Alliance, a Washington-based trade association, and I serve as that organization's communications director. I was asked to take photographs of the award presentation, which took place in the Mangione Fitness and Aquatic Center on the campus of Loyola College in Maryland.

The center is quite impressive. Out of 3,800 students enrolled at Loyola, about 60 percent participate in intramural sports or club sports. In any given week during the school year, at least 1,000 students will use the Fitness and Aquatic Center's facilities.

Michael Phelps himself was quite friendly and laid back. He arrived by himself -- no handlers in tow -- to accept his award. (He was the recipient of the same award in 2003; previous winners include Lance Armstrong [four times!], Brett Favre, Carl Sanderson, and Tiger Woods.) The presentation was informal, consisting mostly of posing for pictures. (They'll turn up in the newsletter of the United States Sports Academy and perhaps in some other publications, as well.) He has the biggest hands I have ever seen on a human being. (And no, I didn't ask about his reported relationship with Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean. I'll leave that to the tabloids and Perez Hilton.)

Here is the text of the news release announcing the award:

ACADEMY TO PRESENT MICHAEL PHELPS MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARD

DAPHNE, Ala. – Swimmer Michael Phelps, the all-time leader in career Olympic gold medals, will be presented the United States Sports Academy’s 2008 Male Athlete of the Year award on Tuesday 28 April at 11:30 a.m. in Baltimore, Maryland, by Joe Szlavik, president of the U.S. Sports Alliance.

Phelps won the award after a worldwide online vote in December 2008 when more than 300,000 votes were cast on a ballot hosted by the Academy, USAToday.com and NBCSports.com.

Phelps, who had approached Mark Spitz’s all-time record of seven gold medals (1972) by winning six golds at the 2004 Games in Athens, blew Spitz’s mark out of the water at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, grabbing an unprecedented eight gold medals in a single Olympiad.

In his third Olympic appearance, Phelps broke the world record in four of his five individual swims, while all three of his relay teams also set world record times.

Phelps won the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:03.84, as well as the 200 individual medley (1:54.23), 100 butterfly (50.58), 200 freestyle (1:42.96), 200 butterfly (1:52.03), 4 x 200 freestyle relay (6:58.56), 4 x 100 relay (3:08.24) and 4 x 100 medley relay (3:29.34). All times except the 100 meter butterfly were world records.

To date, Phelps has 14 Olympic gold medals, more than any other Olympian, and a total of 48 career medals in major international competitions, spanning from the Olympics to the World Games to the Pan Pacific Championships.

The Academy Athlete of the Year ballot is the culmination of the Academy’s yearlong Athlete of the Month program, which recognizes the accomplishments of men and women in sports around the globe. The Academy Athlete of the Month is selected by an international voting committee comprising media members and representatives of sports organizations and governing bodies.

The United States Sports Academy is an independent, nonprofit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and the world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. For more information about the Academy, call 251-626-3303 or visit www.ussa.edu.

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