Waterskiing, a naturist history
Tracing the unique photographic history of nude waterskiing at Lake Como and beyond
Ralph Samuelson (a first cousin to my grandmother’s sister’s husband) first invented waterskiing in Lake City, Minnesota in 1922. Fred Waller from New York, actually patented the equipment in 1925 and later popularized it by bringing it to Cypress Gardens in Florida in World War II. Neither men realized the naturist potential that this sport had. It is unknown when the first naked person took a spin on waterskis, probably it was on a dare and being in the age long before cell phones, as no known photos of the event occurred.
The first photographically documented nude waterskiing occurred early in 1954 at the Lake Como Club in Lutz, Florida. Lake Como Estates first became a winter nudist retreat for American Gymnosophical Association’s northern home at Rock Lodge, New Jersey in 1939. It had moved from Tampa then to avoid persecution and arrest in Hillsborough County. The club became year round in 1940 when a second organization, the Florida Athletic and Health Club formed and also used the same property at first during the summer. During the War a property dispute that ended up in the Florida Supreme Court curtailed widespread use of the property. This dispute ended in 1949 and the club reopened its doors to new members later that year. Florida Athletics’ Lake Como Club brought motorized watersports to the lake shortly thereafter.
The 1954 photos that survive show participants doing tricks, as noted above, so one assumes that the actual starting date of “naturist waterskiing” is earlier than 1954. One also assumes that many of the skiers at Cypress Gardens (the textile amusement park in Winter Haven) came over to Lake Como to both ski and practice naturism. The activity was not noted in a 1952 article on the club, but that does not mean it did not exist either. One of the best resident waterskiers at Como was Dorothy Cotterill, the wife of long-time manager of the club. No pictures of her on the lake are known to exist.
By the early Sixties, the club had purchased three new fiberglass boats dedicated for waterskiing. A water ski club was formed, called Ski Bears at Lake Como. Members of this club jumped over a floating raft using a portable floating ski jump platform. This club practiced at Lake Como during the 1970s and later. The Tampa Bay Waterski Show Team performed and continues to perform to this day at Lake Como Family Nudist Resort once or twice a year.
In one of the oddities of life at a nudist camp, the boat in the above photo was sunk at some time in the late Seventies or early eighties, and for reasons that are not crystal clear, it was never recovered. Lee St. Mary, the Lake Como historian, went looking for another lost boat and found the missing waterskiing boat. In 2024, it still lurks below.
The “All-Florida Days” was a weekend-long event that various Florida nudist clubs joined in, which invited members of other clubs to come over for competitions and games. Volleyball, tug-of-war, tennis, and horseshoes were some of the events that occurred. At Lake Como, after the volleyball tournament winner was crowned, the event provided the excuse to have the annual or biannual waterskiing show. This event waned after the eighties. Interestingly, many of the participants in the waterskiing shows came clothed and had never been nude in public before. By the end of the event, many were performing naked, and a few even joined the club.
Unfortunately, when the new co-op took over the resort in 1997, they put speed restrictions on the lake, and casual waterskiing ended. Although they have continued to waive those for the waterskiing shows that have generally continued over the interim, each year, it has been a bit of a sell to schedule these events.
Few other North American naturist venues contain fully enclosed lakes that would enable such activities. As such, nude waterskiing has mostly been a recurring Florida event. Cypress Cove also has done this, but they did not open until the early Sixties so they cannot compete with Como’s early adoption of the sport. Jim Hadley even photographed many of the early naturist water events at Como before he opened his own resort. Not to be undone, when Paradise Lakes Resort opened in 1981 and, during their Grand Opening, had a waterski show on their even smaller lake. To think they performed jumps and other stunts seems mindboggling in 2024.
As noted, venues for participating in this activity seem to have gone the way of the dodo. Certainly, brave men and women have stripped off and done this out on the ocean or on private lakes, one of which ended up being published in the Sports Illustrated body issue, but save for the professional shows, at least in Pasco County, Florida, it is just an event of a bygone era. 🪐
About the author: Olaf Danielson is a naturist adventurer and a historian focused on Midwest engineering history and historical naturism. His past works include “Nothing is better, a photographic history of Club Orient” and is scheduled to release a huge book, “Nude County USA, the history of naturism in Pasco County, Florida” with Lee St. Mary.
Great article. I live at Lake Como and am a former member of the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team. Your article had some inconsistencies.
First off, the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team originated at Lake Como. A Como resident named George got local skiers to come and ski there and together they put together the various ski show acts, which included the pyramids, ballet lines and jump team. Not long after that they were doing ski shows in the local community.
Somehow they got themselves invited to perform for an event near the Courtney Campbell Bridge and there were some reporters there who captured scenes of the roaring crowds during their show. They asked the skiers what their team name was but they really didn't have one at that point.
They didn't want to say anything about nudity, so they said their name was "George's Ski Club." That stuck as their very first name. Eventually there were other names, but when they became famous they changed their name to the "Tampa Bay Waterski Show Team" (TBWSST). They had a show site in Oldsmar in Pinellas County for 25 years, performing weekly for large crowds in their bleachers and around the lake.
Several years ago TBWSST lost their show site when the landowners decided to sell it to developers. They continue to do road shows by request, practicing on lakes where their team members live.
TBWSST members loved doing the Como ski shows. Their early Board of Directors, who were also show skiers, were all in favor of it and some of them were Como members and frequent visitors. However as they aged out and were replaced by younger board members who had never been to a nudist venue, things began to change. First they voted to ban members under the age of 18 from doing what they lovingly called "the nudie shows." They said that too many parents were not allowing their kids to be in it and that they did not believe public nudity was in keeping with their mission of supporting family values and high moral character.
For the youngsters on the team, doing the nudie shows became a right of passage. You got bragging rights when you were olde enough to do a Como show.
However the trend toward conservatism among the team's board members eventually led them to vote to cancel participation in the Como shows. There were too many members who were offended by the idea of public nudity.
There was also some conflict with one of Como's general managers about their show fee, which had gone up over the years as boat gas became more expensive. Never-the-less when TBWSST voted to stop performing at Como the resort lost a colorful chapter in its history regarding use of the lake.
But I think it is also worth mentioning that a number of TBWSST skiers bought Como memberships so they could use the park as nudists and some of them are still around. Unfortunately, with the exception of the former ski shows, Como stopped allowing water skiing on its lake decades ago.
Thank you for this interesting article on water skiing as part of the nude recreation experience!
One of my enjoyable water skiing adventures was with a bunch of friends on Lake Mead, while I attended UNLV. All of us (6-7 couples) took turns. We were quite away up the lake where the passage starts towards Lake Powell. I was skiing and my friend took the boat through a bunch of Sail Boats. As we came out of the group, I noticed one had 3-4 Nuns on board. To my surprise, they all were laughing and waving. They must have enjoyed the moment. Anyway, someone did not, because on our way back we spotted a park ranger boat on the other side of the passage way about 1/2 Mille away. I dropped into the water and the boat circled back for me a few minutes later. They missed use, but it was the end of the afternoon fun. Great time for all, apparently for the Nuns, also. (;-)