Every evening was a pool party in some form or other, an opportunity for everybody to dress nicely. Some where wild, others more relaxed chill-out gatherings. If the weather stopped an outdoors event, it got replaced by a pool party.

Before the party we had to take a shower and then change into our party clothes. That way we didn't need a shower before entering the pool hall. For us team leaders it was usually a chance to dress as we wanted, which was good fun.

Educational Purpose

Although the parties were meant to entertain everyone, there was a training purpose as well. Most parties had a theme which was based on the next day's event. The suggested dress code varied accordingly.

During dinner it was announced that tomorrow's plan included a cross country run and a mudrun. So the theme for tonight's party was "Jogging" which meant hoodies, tee-shirts and jogging pants, with clean socks and sports shoes. Rainwear was optional.

After dinner we changed into our cosy jogging suits and went to hang around pool side, so our teams had a chance to talk to us and have fun. It was policy at the centre that the teams bonded well and learned good team work. Little did I know how emotional this experience could get. Especially the Asian students can be very direct and personal, in a polite way. They probably think of staff as wet toys they can play with all day long.

Meeting Our Team

As we entered to pool hall, our team was already sitting near the deep end. We sat down with them and they eagerly started asking questions about tomorrows events.

"Where do we go tomorrow?" asked Tina.

I explained: "We'll take a walk around the lake, including a water crossing near the end of the trip. Then we come back here for a warm up shower."

"What clothes do we need?" asked Robin, who sat near the pool edge.

"Jogging suits, like you wear now." said Giovanni. "Weather will be quite warm, with some rain but no wind. No need for rainwear, would be too warm. Maybe a poncho, if you like."

"So we better keep our clothes dry tonight, ready for tomorrow, right?" Robin asked.

"It doesn't matter." I said. "They'll dry over night in the boiler room, should you get soaked."

"I told you so!" shouted Toby, Robin's room mate, "We can still have fun tonight." He tried to push Robin into the pool, but Robin held on to Toby's hoodie, and so they both fell into the pool. Everybody laughed as they resurfaced with the hoods over their face.

"Why are we all wearing our jogging suits tonight?" asked James.

"The party theme is based on tomorrow's events," said Giovanni, "it gets you used to the right kit for the event. You are meant to get wet in these clothes."

"Yeah, great." our team shouted and the remaining four jumped into the pool.

"You must come in too." said Robin and Toby to Giovanni and me as they climbed out of the pool. They grabbed us and pushed us into the water. It felt great to swim in our heavy jogging suits.

As we surfaced they sourrounded us and asked more questions.

Andy and James chose jeans and hoodies again, with polo shirts underneath. I dressed in a long sleeve tee-shirt, beige cargo pants, white socks and sports shoes. Giovanni wore black jeans and a black tee-shirt with his white socks and tennis shoes. I noticed that he also carried a yellow nylon anorak in a little pouch around his waist.

As we entered the pool hall the college students were already engaged in wild water fights, not the quiet night we had expected.

Since I was still dry I decided to watch the mayhem from a distance. I climbed into a boat at the shallow end to relax, slowly drifting towards deeper water.

Suddenly my boat moved and a couple of students (Ooli and Karim) from my team popped up and asked if they may climb in. I agreed and they scrambled in, their wet hoodies dripping all over my dry trousers.

One said: "Oh, sorry, you're still dry. We can soon change that." They hopped back in and slowly tipped the boat over, enjoying every bit as I slowly slipped into the water. Getting wet like this in my nice party clothes was a very pleasant experience. We all climbed back into the boat and splashed around for some time.

I got a bit cold

After a while I got a bit cold and went to the drying room to change into dry clothes. My hooded tracksuit and thermals were already dry, so I swiftly changed clothes and picked a waterproof suit to wear on top.

The evening went on and we relaxed with our teams in the shallow end. I sat down on the edge, just dangling my feet in the water. "We always swim in clothes at home," said Lee, an Asian student, "so we enjoy this centre very much."

"Do you often swim in clothes?" asked another, looking at me. "Yes," I replied, "I usually do. It adds interest and variety to my swimming training." They all laughed and splashed me.

Getting wet again, slowly

"Why did you change into dry clothes a while ago?" one student asked. I said that I got a bit cold in the thin clothes I was wearing. They looked at each other with a wicked grin and asked: "Can we get you wet again, take you back into the water?"

I quietly nodded, wondering what they had in mind as they asked me to put my hood up. They lifted me from the pool side and carried me above the water to the middle of the pool, where the water was about chest deep. Then they lowered me very slowly into the water, holding me horizontally, face up.

The water slowly seeped into my nylon suit at the legs, the waist and arms. I could feel how my tracksuit and thermal underwear slowly got wet. There was a lovely tingling sensation as the air bubbles moved up between my skin and my clothes. The water filled my hood as they lowered my head. They held me like this for few moments, then they let go and I floated onto my feet. That was an amazing experience.

"Did you enjoy that?" one student asked. "Yes, that was great. What was it?" I wanted to know. She explained that this was a meditation bonding technique she learned in her psychology class back home in Hong Kong. It is used to build a better team spirit. If possible each team member should experience it at least once. I said that I'll check with management to weave it into the ongoing events as it doesn't take that long. My team was delighted.

We chatted a bit more until Giovanni swam over to us. He had his yellow nylon anorak on with the hood up. As he jumped onto my back, I noticed that he was also wearing thin white nylon pants over his jeans, which could be seen through the fabric.

"Did you get cold too?" I asked him.

"A little bit." he said with a smile. "It's bedtime now, let's go."

Giovanni is very touchy-feely. He's Italian, but grew up in Greece. He likes an early night. His motto is: "Good boys have to be in bed by ten, so they can be home by midnight."

It was a warm summer night as we walked in our wet clothes across the lawn to our accommodation. We laid down in the grass for a moment, looking at the stars. "That's the life, my friend." Giovanni mused. "We get wet from morning to night with nice people in a beautiful setting. What more could we want?"

Last night at the party I got a bit cold so this time I decided to dress up a bit more. A comfy turtleneck pullover, tracksuit bottoms, and a hoodie looked like a warm choice, even when wet. My socks got a bit damp as I put my wet tennis shoes on which made a nice squelching sound while I walked back to the pool.

After a while I gave it another try across the ropes. Halfway over the pool I noticed Giovanni coming my way. As we met he said with a big smile: "Hi, Felix. You look like you dried out a bit. Fancy a swim?"

Tricky question. On one hand I had planned to keep my warm clothes dry for a while. On the other hand it seemed like a jolly good idea since I like to see him swimming in his sports clothes. So I simply smiled back and nodded, wondering how he would get me into the pool.

With a wicked smile he let go of the rope and hugged me. The extra weight was more than I could handle and the rope slipped from my hands. I held on tight to him as we fell into the pool.

The nylon of his yellow anorak felt very soft, I noticed as we resurfaced, still holding on to each other. His black tee-shirt was visible through the almost transparent anorak. We climbed into a boat and I had a good look at his outfit. I could see his wet black hair shining through his anorak hood, and also put my hood up, just for fun.

Ooli's Dunking

My team showed up late for the party, all dressed in white, the girls in white long dresses, the boys in white ponchos, probably orchestrated by Giovanni. I knew what was coming as I walked over to greet them: another of their meditative dunking rituals. I quickly put on a white poncho and joined them.

This time they've chosen Ooli. He wasn't dressed all in white, but wore blue jeans, a thin blue hoodie, and the mandatory white poncho like the others. Seems like they caught him unprepared, like me the day before. Anyway, he looked great in that outfit, but felt a bit apprehensive.

"What will they do to me?" he asked me quietly, fumbling with his poncho.

"Don't worry, Ooli." I replied. "It will be a very beautiful experience for you."

Linda wrapped the poncho closely around Ooli, with his arms inside. Then they lifted him up into a horizontal position and carried him into the pool chest deep without getting him wet. Next they slowly lowered him into water.

It was great to see his eyes light up with amazement as the water seeped into his clothes. A few moments later he was fully submerged, held up by his peers. The poncho unfolded and he pushed his arms out as he stood up.

"Wow!" he said with a huge smile. "That was awesome!" Everybody gave him a big wet hug.

Afterwards we sat down in the shallow end, shoulder deep, and I asked what he liked best about it. He put his hands inside the poncho, playing with it as it floated around him, just like I did.

Then he smiled at me and said: "I never expected this would feel so good. Being held by everyone was such a beautiful feeling. I could feel the air bubbles run up inside my clothes as the water came in. An amazing tingle. Wow!"

I haven't seen someone so happy in quite a while.

Throughout the day all teams had been talking about the ceremony at yesterday's pool party, helped along by Giovanni, no doubt. He knows how to promote things. I ve been asked about ponchos several times. Thankfully the centre kept a few dozen in the drying room, should the need arise.

As we get to the pool hall our team is already there, others were arriving in small groups, nicely dressed in casual closthes. Most walked over to the drying room and came out dressed in ponchos.

"What have you told them?" I asked Giovanni.

"Nothing much," he said with an innocent smile, "only where the ponchos are, so they can do their own dunking ceremonies." Obviously the idea caught on.

Our team had chosen Karim for a dunking tonight. How showed up in a blue hooded tracksuit, looking good. Linda quickly wrapped him in a white poncho and put his hood up.

We noticed that the other teams had someone wrapped up in a poncho and followed us into the water. Karim loved every bit of this as we carefully lowered him into the water. His blue tracksuit became visible throught white poncho as it filled up with water.

It was a different athmosphere that evening. Instad of the usual mayhem, groups settled down in shallow end of the pool, wrapped up in the ponchos and deep conversations about life, the universe and everything.