“If you’re not strong enough to swim fast, you’re probably not strong enough to swim ‘pretty’.” ~ Esther Williams

When I stop to think about it, it’s somewhat surprising how much I have crossed paths with artistic swimming. Aside from the chance viewing of an Esther Williams musical, I live in a neighborhood with multiple Esther Williams pools. There is even a newspaper article with her posing on their diving board. When the neighbor was having it remodeled, I went and gathered the original turquoise tiles. I made a mosaic top table and have dozens more under plants or leveling uneven tables.

Esther William Pool Ad

As a kid, I learned to swim in a neighbor’s pool (different neighborhood). That family’s matriarch gave swimming lessons to children but she was also my gymnastics coach. When I got a bit older, I took lessons at the local YMCA to learn the various strokes and pass official testing levels. I never felt scared of the water, always secure in the fact that I could swim, or at least float, if not win any races. It’s easy to forget that a century ago basic swimming skills were rare in the general populous, and practically nonexistent for women.

Swimming Pretty is not just a book about what we now know as synchronized swimming. It follows the throughline of women earning the right to be swimmers at all — recreationally and competitively. From aquacade stunt shows to endurance swims across the English Channel, these swimmers showed their strength and determination in and out of the water.

Aquacade at the 1939 World’s Fair. “Amusements – Aquacade – Performance” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1935 – 1945.
Gertrude Ederle being watched during her 1926 Channel swim by her sister Margaret and coach Bill Burgess from the tugboat Alsace. Getty Images.

It was no coincidence that the rise in athletic opportunities for women was happening at the same time as the women’s right to vote.

Not only did [Annette] Kellerman’s films project a greatly expanded vision of female physical and mental capability — but they did so at a critical time. The rally for women’s suffrage was building…and several reviewers couldn’t help but draw connections between the athletic prowess Kellerman demonstrated and calls for women’s political equality. The Journal of Commerce wrote, ‘Those who contentd that woman is too weak physically to contend with man at the voting booth …should go to the Lyric Theater to see Annette Kellerman in A Daughter of the Gods. Either she is a super-woman or women are surely entitled to. rank with men in physical endurance. ~Loc. 1260

The sport of swimming, and in particular synchronized swimming, has always had to battle the idea that because it looks easy, it must not be a real sport. The more graceful, sparkly, poised or self-assured a swimmer was (and is) used as evidence that it is only entertainment but doesn’t require much physical exertion. In reality, athleticism is only one part of the sport. Making it look easy actually makes it even harder.

Massive spectacles like the aquacades have fallen out of fashion, but water entertainment can still be found. The world-famous Weeki Wachee Mermaids perform twice a day, every day of the year. While their brand of mid-century Americana trades on a bit kitschy nostalgia, the strength on display is very real. The performers use underwater breathing hoses (developed by a former Navy Seal) to remain submerged up to a half an hour while they frolic in mermaid tails and show off balletic poses. When filmmakers needed a swimming monster and a sleek damsel for the Creature from the Black Lagoon, they went to the experts at Weeki Wachee.

The majority of the book focuses on the history of swimming, and women’s place in the sport. The author clearly shows how stunt swimming (and fancy costumes) evolved into the sport we see today. With the summer Olympics quickly approaching, I’ll be watching the artistic swimming events with greater understanding and interest.

My thanks to W.W. Norton Liveright for the review copy. Read via NetGalley.

Publisher: ‎Liveright (June 25, 2024)
Language: ‎English
Hardcover: ‎432 pages
ISBN-10: ‎1324093048