Hi,
I have gone swimming "around the world".... I grew up swimming in the ocean in Brooklyn ny ( after ostomy surgery), Have swam of the coast of NJ, in Md, in Fla, West coast, Mexico & the mediteranian. I have never considered not swimming, and give no thought to the pool or ocean water irritating or hurting the stoma. It's made of the same material as the inside of the mouth! I did have a problem when I floated in the dead sea. Unknown to me, the boyancy of the water ( 5x the salt content of the regular ocean) pulled off my faceplate, and when I peeled off my bathingsuit in a dressing room without running water or a shower, I was facing a filthy mess. How did I solve it? I asked a friend to bring me wads of paper and a plastic bag. I cleaned myself off, stuffed everything dirty into the plastic bag, plastered more toilet tissue over the ostomy....pulled on undies and went to the showers. Washed me and my dirty clothes off....and then taped my rinsed of pouch back on. ( No, it didn't stick). Thank goodness, that was the last stop of the day...and we headed back to the hotel. that made me realize that when I swim anywhere, take an extra pouch and faceplate as well as tape with me. I don't always do that. Sigh.... I guess I like to live dangerously.
BTW.....I NEVER change my pouch to a clean one after swimming.. I wipe my body dry of the water, and so I wipe the pouch dry also. It's just an extension of my body, and doesn't need to be changed. However, I'm not always so lucky with tape. But I found "scanpoor" which is like a second skin. My faceplate & pouch stay put for a week, and the tape stays there also. Considering that I take 6-7 showers a week, the tape dries perfectly. It doesn't always hold up in a hot tub howerver., so I may have to change the tape if I want to soak.
Best advice I can give anyone, is to try different things and find what works for you.