Piscina Comunale di Modica

Here is how I swam at this pool. I put all my gear inside a small backpack I had seen Italian men take to pools. I watched an Italian man with such a backpack put his five euro note down and say "uno" to the young woman at the counter. She buzzed the gate open, and he entered. I performed the same actions, with the same results. After my swim, I found signs all over the place that said (my translation) “No matter what age, you must present a signed medical certificate including EKG to swim here.” The key is this is Italy. The pool personnel did not make the rule and they do not care about it. In this country, people do not even slow down at stop signs, so great is their contempt for authority. I saw no one asked for the certificate, including me. I speak Italian with a non-native accent, and from my clothing I could never be mistaken for Italian. Don’t ask questions, any questions. Watch an Italian enter and do the same thing. Speak as little as possible… and walk right in and swim. This business about the medical certificate probably emanated from an office in Rome and, except for a couple of earnest comments about the Olympic pool in Palermo, I think it is not at all widely enforced.

I suspect this method will be widely effective in Italy.

Oh yes, at this pool, a swim cap is required.