Sunburn is especially quick to form when one is around
water. Especially an
ocean, rather than a
pool, because it is so much bigger. Anyway, water acts like a
mirror for the
sun, and, if you've ever looked at the ocean and noticed that everywhere you look, a
wave (not just a big wave, every last little
ripple in the water) is hilighted by a little bit of the sun, realize that each one of those
reflections is also a reflection of
UV rays, which burn your
skin. Same goes for your pool.
A commonly unknown
fact about sunburns and
tanning is this, plain and simple: if you're tanning, no matter how slow you do it, you're
damaging your skin and increasing the
risk of skin
cancer. It doesn't take a sunburn to give you cancer, and just because you tan without getting burnt, you're not exempt*.
* But come on, you know you're tired of looking pasty white. I'm half Mexican and, being sick for a few weeks, I'm a bit pale. So what did I do yesterday? Went to a beach and burnt my face. Damn the system! (system == nature)