Swimming History – Picture of the Week: No Swimming in the Canal!
Specific river bathing areas became necessary when Matthew Webb opened the floodgates to outdoor swimming by conquering the Channel in 1875. Boys in particular took the distance swimming challenge to heart, unperturbed that a lack of swimwear was scandalising the ladies. Indoor and outdoor pools were to follow as a means of containing and controlling the increasingly popular swimming movement. A legacy of these times is evident in many areas with no swimming signs proliferati