SWIMMING
See
Also: SPORTS
The Australian Mermaid
In Australia Annette Kellerman (1886-1975)
broke numerous world records. In Europe
she became renowned for her feats of long-distance swimming; she was the first
woman to try to swim the English Channel.
She developed a one-piece, skintight swimsuit. In 1906 a water tank was installed in the
London Hippodrome. She used it to
perform an underwater ballet as the Australian Mermaid. She took the show to the United States. In 1907 she was arrested on a beach close to
Boston on the grounds of public indecency.
In 1952 the movie Million Dollar Mermaid was made about her
life.
Location: The London
Hippodrome, Cranbourn Street, WC2H 7JH (blue, pink)
Agnes Beckwith
In 1875 Agnes Beckwith swam four miles from
London Bridge to Greenwich. She was
wearing a full-skirted dress, pantaloons, and petticoats. On another occasion she trod water for 30
hours in the Royal Aquarium's whale tank.
Location: The Royal
Aquarium, Storey's Gate, SW1H 9NH (blue, pink)
Channel Swimming
In the mid-1980s Tom Gregory and his sister
Anna took to swimming at Eltham Baths.
There the boy came to the notice of John Bullet, a maverick swimming
coach who had developed an expertise in training children to swim long
distances. In 1988 the eleven-year-old
Gregory became the youngest person ever to swim the English Channel. A few weeks later the Channel Swimming
Association introduced a ban that barred anyone who was aged under twelve from
trying to accomplish the feat. He found
the experience deeply traumatic and it took him several months to recover from
it. However, the 50-year-old Bullet died
after having had several strokes.
Gregory withdrew from competitive swimming although he continued to
enjoy swimming as a private activity.
Location: Eltham Baths, 2 Archery
Road, SE9 1HA
Website: www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/greenwich/eltham-centre/facilities
Floating Swimming Bath
In 1875 a floating swimming bath was moored
on the River Thames by Hungerford Bridge.
It closed in 1884.
Location: Hungerford Bridge, SE1 8XX
The Halliwick Concept of Swimming
The Halliwick Concept of swimming was
devised by James McMillan. Joan Martin
(1915-2018), a G.P. set up the Emperor Swimming Club in Kensington to teach it
to disabled children. The name was
derived from the fact that the swimming pool was in the Royal Borough of
Kensington. The club's logo was a
penguin wearing a coronet. She was of
the view that it should be more widely known and sought to make a film about
it. He was resolute that she should
not. The pair fell out with one
another. Water Free was released
in 1975. She also trained people to
becoming instructors of it.
Upon a number of occasions Dr Martin had
conversations with members of the royal family about swimming. She and Prince Charles discussed breathing
underwater. He complained that because
he was royal no one had taught him how to do it.
Indoor Pools
Cholera prompted the passage of the Baths
& Wash Houses Act of 1846. This
empowered local authorities to build public baths and washhouses for washing. Some of these evolved swimming pools.
Peerless Pool in Islington was the first
swimming pool that Londoners could pay go into.
Peerless Road stands on the site.
Plunge pools (cheaper than a slipper bath)
were popular. Grew and grew. Middle classes took to using them. Revenue was used to subsidise other
operations.
Rubbish incinerators next to swimming pools
to heat water. Pitfield Street the
incinerator is left but the pool is gone.
Notable swimming pools: Haggerston, St
Pancras, Dulwich.
The Oasis (Shaftesbury Avenue) was the first
metric pool. It is an indoor/outdoor
swimming pool
Location: Peerless Street, EC1V 9AW
(red, brown)
Marshall Street Baths
Marshall Street Baths in Soho were completed
in 1931. They were closed in 1997.
Location: 15 Marshall Street, W1F 7EL
(purple, yellow)
Lidos
The term Lido was first applied to Tooting
Bec Baths.
In 2007 London had lost 57 lidos and had
eleven left.
Website: www.lidos.org
Brockwell Lido
Brockwell Lido opened in 1937.
Location: Dulwich Lido, Herne Hill,
SE24 0PA
Website: www.brockwelllido.com
London Fields Lido
Location: London Fields West Side, E8
3EU
Website: www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/hackney/london-fields-lido
Parliament Hill Lido
Location: Gordon House Road, NW5 1LT
Pond Swimming
Hampstead Ponds are three former water
company reservoirs that are located in the centre of the Heath's eastern
side. Highgate Ponds are six ponds that
run south-eastwards along the Heath's north-eastern side.
Location: Hampstead Heath: NW3 1AS
(Ladies); NW3 1BP (Men's & Mixed)
Website: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath/where-to-go-at-hampstead-heath/highgate-mens-pond
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath/where-to-go-at-hampstead-heath/kenwood-ladies-pond
www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/hampstead-heath/where-to-go-at-hampstead-heath/mixed-pond
www.hampsteadheath.net/swimming-ponds
Swimming In The Thames
Website: www.pla.co.uk/Safety/Swimming-in-the-Tidal-Thames
Wild Swimming
In large part, wild swimming in the U.K. was
triggered by Roger Deakin's (1943-2006) book Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey
Through Britain Chatto & Windus (1999).
It was an account of swimming in a wide variety of open water
spaces. (It was inspired by the John
Cheever short story The Swimmer (1964), which became a 1968 movie that
starred Burt Lancaster.)
The Outdoor Swimming Society
The Outdoor Swimming Society was founded in
2006 by Kate Rew.
Website: www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com
David Backhouse 2024