Swimming: The ‘Ideal’ Sport for Nineteenth-century British Women

Abstract

The nineteenth-century history of swimming has predominantly been portrayed as a history of male participation, with claims that women were marginalized from the sport and never able to be involved at the same level as men. However, this article will highlight that far from marginalizing women the unique qualities of swimming enabled it to develop into the ‘ideal’ and arguably first modern, urban sport for British women. The article will draw upon two nineteenth-century ideologies which surrounded the female body and health; firstly, the ideology of female bodily incapacity and secondly, the socially constructed ideology of correct feminine behaviour. These ideologies directly influenced perceptions about the female body and health and also curtailed the development of sport for women. Nevertheless, by analysing evidence gathered from nineteenth-century texts, newspapers and women's magazines this article will suggest that swimming was an exception. Three specific qualities enabled the promotion and tolerance of female swimming to continue virtually unchallenged. These qualities were health, safety and the aquatic environment.