Posts Tagged ‘history of swimming’

Images from SPLASH! Pool Fun

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From the Epilogue: “My Watery Life”

A family triple-decker from the later half of the 1980s: I’m at the bottom, son Nathan is in the middle, and daughter Ihrie is on top. (Credit: Candy Means.)

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Jeff Farrell

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 16: “Is Enough Ever Enough?”

Six days before the 1960 Olympic trials, speed specialist Jeff Farrell was operated on for appendicitis. Here he is, less than a week later, taking the blocks in the finals of the 100-yard freestyle. The plastic-wrapped gauze bandaging his wound is sticking out of the top of his racing suit. Sometimes the best swimming stories aren’t about winning.

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Goggle Science

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 16: “Is Enough Ever Enough?”

No stone goes unturned in the search for greater speed. This sketch is from the patent application for dual-monocle goggles. Nike contends that getting rid of the strap and nosepiece will shave 0.146 seconds off the time for a 100-meter freestyle.

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Adam Peaty

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 16: “Is Enough Ever Enough?”

At the highest tier of competitive swimming, there’s barely time for anything else. The UK’s Adam Peaty, the world’s fastest breaststroker, does twice-a day-sessions in the pool and a grinding daily gym workout, all the while eating every few hours and consuming on average 7,500 calories of high-nutrition foods. The result: a perfectly sculpted swimmer’s body.

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Johnny Weissmuller

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 15: “Fastest Swimmer Ever.”

Johnny Weissmuller combined blistering speed—he swam the first sub-minute 100-meter free—with a showman’s instincts. At the 1924 Paris Olympics he took part in diving exhibitions off the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform between swimming events. Later, he starred in a dozen Tarzan movies.

 

Images from SPLASH! Duke Kahanamoku

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 15: “Fastest Swimmer Ever.”

Hawaii’s Duke Kahanamoku, who held the world record in the 100-meter freestyle for just shy of ten years, was an ancient age 35 when he finished second to Johnny Weissmuller in the event at the 1924 Paris Olympics. Kahanomoku is more famous today as the godfather of surfing.

 

Images from SPLASH! World’s Fastest Swimmer (1908)

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 14: “Growing Pains.”

 
Another image from the 1908 London Olympics: Dapper Charlie Daniels, newly crowned fastest swimmer in the world after winning the 100-meter freestyle in a record-busting time of 1:05.6. Daniels trained at the New York Athletic Club, where he was also squash and bridge champion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Swimming at the 1908 Olympics

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 14: “Growing Pains.”

 
Swimming at the 1908 London Olympics: Competitors in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke take off from a starting platform draped with towels to prevent slipping. Winning time — 3:09.2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Simone Manuel & Peggy Oleksiak

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 13: “The Last Taboo.”

Simone Manuel and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak embrace after tying for first in the 100-meter freestyle in 2016, at the Rio Olympics — for U.S. women, the first-ever Olympic gold for an African-American swimmer.

 

 

 

 

 

Images from SPLASH! Swimming and Segregation

Continuing the series of posts from my new book SPLASH!

From Chapter 13: “The Last Taboo.”

Municipal pool, Washington, DC, 1942. Almost one in three Washingtonians were of African-American descent by the start of World War 2. All these municipal swimmers are white.

 

 

 

 

 

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