Shifting Currents

I have been interested in the history of swimming for a very long time. During the pandemic, I even recorded a series of videos demonstrating each of the strokes described in Everard Digby’s 1587 book “De Arte Natandi” (The Art of Swimming).

One of the best books around on swimming history is Karen Eva Carr’s “Shifting Currents”, a world history of swimming. It looks at evidence for swimming that dates back thousands of years. It also looks at why Europeans didn’t swim for centuries, and how important swimming was around much of the world.

Yet today, we often think of swimming as very European/North American, while African and Asian swimmers, in particular, seem rare.

When I lifeguarded as a teen, I remember there being exactly one Black man who came for lane swims. I never saw another non-white swimmer; not at lane swims, public swims, or taking lessons.

I have written about swimming as a transgressive activity in the context of women and larger-bodied swimmers. But there is an important history of excluding minorities as well. One of the most powerful moments in the American Civil Rights Movement came on June 18, 1964, when Black and White protesters went into a Whites-only pool in Florida together. A photograph of the owner pouring acid into the pool to force them out helped galvanize the Senate to pass the Civil Rights Act the next day, after an 83-day filibuster.

More recently, women wearing modest swimsuits have been targeted. Tracy wrote about it here.

I have really noticed how the currents have shifted in recent years. Most of the people during public swims at my pool are from visible minority communities, and Burkini-clad hijabi women sometimes make up 10% of the patrons. Some pools also offer girls/women-only lessons and swim times.

My swim classes are made up mostly of students who are either immigrants themselves or the children of immigrants. My social media is filled with stories of excited adults (most of whom are Black) who are finally learning to swim.

We’re not where we need to be yet. But I like to think that we may be better n the way to truly inclusive spaces at our swimming pools.