- PUBLIC SWIMMING AT BRIGHTON.
WE have often wondered in past years that swimming was so little cultivated in England. One would have thought - that our insular position and our sea-going propensities should have had the eff 'et of making a swimming nation of us long since ; but it has not been so. Even amongst our sailors of the last genera- rtion only a very small per-centage could swim, and of course the rest of -the community, except always those who had been educated at public schools, were far behind the sailors. A decided majority -of public school boys came away fair swimmers, but even there 'the art was left to take care of itself. There were men who had -to attend at the bathing-places of the lower school during the sea- son, but it was no part of their business to give instruction in --swimming, nor do we remember their ever doing so. Education has been marching in this respect, as in so many others, within the last -few years, an I 11,1{V swimming is scientifically taught at the naval • schools, and, we believe, at most of our public schools also. At any rate there are now regular yearly competitive examinations in the art 'at these lat ter, and t he general public is following in the same direction. The pariah of St. George set the example, which has been followed, 'though not by any means so largely as it deserves to be, by other metropolitan parishes, and in consequence of the opening of such -swimming baths as those in Davies Street quite a large average of 'young Coekney-dom is learning to keep its head above the water. At -these baths there are constant swimming matches amongst the mem. ters of the swimming clubs and other frequenters, but of course the -space is too confined for a satisfactory test of the swimmer's powers. -For thi-1 there is nothing like the sea, and therefore we are glad to find that the custom of swimming matches is beginning to .prevail at some of our sea-side places of resort. Until this week we -had never had the opportunity of witnessing one of these ; but on Monday last we chanced to be at Brighton, on the occasion of the Fifth Annual Swimming Matches of the Brighton Swimming Club," and think that some account of them may amuse our --evaders in this holiday-time.
The platers announced that the fun was to begin at 9-30 precisely, so we started for the scene of operations directly -after breakfast, purchasing on our way for one penny a correct 'card, which gave the names and colours (worn in bathing- -caps) of the swimmers, the distances of the courses, a list of the prizes, and the few and simple rules, such as that all competitors were to wear bathing drawers, and that no false starts would be all ,wed. The bathing station is a portion of the beach, fifty yards long, to the west of the Chain Pier, almost therefore in the very centre of Brighton. It was roped off, being reserved for the com- petitors, and for the umpires, and committee, and their friends. On each side of this space the beach was lined with just such a crowd as would gather to races. Boys of course were the pre- vailing feature, but there were a large number of men and women of all ages, chiefly of the labouring class. The raised approach to the Chain Pier, which runs along just above the bathing station, was also lined with spectators of a higher rank, and above that, again, the esplanade was crowded for a distance of about 300 yards, and all the windows of the houses were full of well-dressed folk. A better spot for enabling the largest number of spectators to see the races could scarcely be chosen, for at high tide when the swimming begins the starting place is not more than fifty yards from the top of the cliff along which the esplanade runs.
The competitors got ready in a long shed at the top of the station, just under the raised walk. They came out as they were ready, and were then drawn up in Him and started by pistol-shot. They got into the water as they pleased, and had to swim round a post, of which there was a line gay with flags, the furthest being 500 yards from the shore. There was a Humane Society's boat in attendance, into which any candidate scrambled who felt that he had had enough, and soon after the commencement a dozen other boats were pulling about the course, carrying a lot of well-dressed men and women, who seemed to enjoy their proximity to the races, but somewhat interfered with the view from the beach. We managed nevertheless to see the matches very well, and can vouch that there was some really good swimming. Tire fourth match was for seem:id-class swimmers, distance, 1,030 yards, which was done by the winner in 18 minutes and 30 seconds, tire
nest man being a minute and a half behind. The longest- race was the fifth, for first-class swimmers, members of the Brigh- ton Swimming Club, the course being round the head of the Chain Pier, and the distance being 1,240 yards. The whiner, a Brighton tradesman of the name of Cava, did the distance in 17 minutes 45 eeeonda, the nextman being only 3 seconds; behiad him. There was a strong tide and. a consiclamble swell.en at this timer and although the numbee of yards pea minute does not look larp-on papes, the best swimmer amongst our readers will find it a pretty tough feat if he wilt go and try it under the-same conditions,. Onlyfour competitorsiatarted for this heat, all of whom came well home, the last being little more than three-quasters of a minute' behind the winner.
The great attraction of the day, however, was the-' sixth match,. for females, open to all comers, distance 300 yards, for a very handsome silver-plated teapot, value 55s.," as it was announced em the card. On the cliff, the pier, the beach, there must have been now 4,000 or 5,000 spectators, a somewhat awful ordeal, one wouldi think, for the " females " in question. "They must have good. heart to come out at all," said one middle-aged woman to another- close by our elbow, and we quite agreed. After a short,. delay, however, the door of a bathing-machine, which had been drawn up to the starting-place, opened, and out jumped. first one, and then a second young woman. 'rids was all. These were four entries, but only two came to the scratch, Mrs. Mary Taylor, who wore a scarlet and white head-dress, and Miss Gooding (or Jenny Gooding, as she was called in the crowd), who showed in white and blue. The rest of their persons were clothed in short blue jackets, not tunics such as women wear at French watering-places, and trousers fitting rather tight, which no, doubt must be far more easy to swim in than loose ones. So far as we could observe, from a distance of some Oa yards, they seemed fine strong young women, and-we gathered from the talk about us that they were sisters, the daughters of a proprietor of machines, accustomed to attend on ladies bathing, and both of thorn first-rate swinuners. After a short delay the signal was given, and they ran into the water and started for the 150 yards' flag, round which they were to swim. We were disappointed in the pace, Mrs. Taylor and Jenny taking the matter quite coolly, and swimming side by side quietly until the close, when :the married lady took a few feet precedence of her sister and came first to ground amidst much applause. Whether the applause incited the young women to prolong their performance, or whether it was a part of the pro- gramme, we cannot say, but instead of going to their machine they now swam out again for 30 yards or so, and began floating and diving, and were hauled up into a boat by a young man, who, we were told, was their brother, from which they each took several very respectable headers. The Brighton Committee had made a great point of this match for women, and we do not know that it could have been more properly or decently managed, except for the afterthought of scrambling up into a boat for the pur- pose of showing off. At the same time, we confess that we wish this race had been left out. It is very desirable that women should learn to swim, and we can see no harm in their practising in the open sea, when decently clad. But this is quite another thing from taking part in the same matches with men, and when Jenny and her sister walked up dripping to their machine, through a number of men, naked except bathing drawers, who were waiting for the next race, we felt that the performance was not good "for example of life and instruction of manners." And while we are on this point we may add that it would be quite as well that women should not be allowed in the space kept clear for the starting. They have no business there, and can see all that they ought to see quite as well from the esplanade or the pier.
After this the ornamental swimming, as the card had it, came off, which consisted of diving, floating, rolling on the top of the water, and other tricks of the same kind, of which some were very good. The fact which seemed to please and astonish people most was the simple motionless floating on the back, a fact which shows that the public it far from being properly educated. For-this feet is in fact not at all a matter of swimming, but of faith. Any person who will stretch out his arms above his head and lie still on the water, may do so in the sea for as long as he feels inclined, even if he cannot swim ten strokes. But faith is as rare amongst swimmers as it is in other departments. Then "Captain Camp, of the Brighton Swimming Club," proceeded to "prepare and par- take of his breakfast, consisting of coffee, ham, and eggs, all hot, thirty yards at sea." This, the captain, a one-legged man, managed successfully enough, on a small raft constructed on three -cork belts, such as they keep on passenger ships to throw out in casa of a man overboard. To him, when his cooking was nearly finished, swam out two other one-legged men, one of whom upset the raft, and the captain, and his kitchen apparatus, into a great wave, and there was much rollicking in the water between the one-legged. Presently, one of them scrambled up into a boat, in -which were a party comprising two well-dressed young women, and sat'for a minute or two dripping on the gunwale, within a few feet of .these damsels. This part of the performance also struck us as objectionable, and ridiculously enough seemed to us all the more so because the man had only one leg. We have been un- able to satisfy ourselves why it should be so, upon thinking the matter over since, but cannot get rid of the impression that so it was.
There were several other matches, including a steeplechase, in which the-swimmers scrambled over a gate and a boat, and dived under certain other obstacles, and a race, in which they started =dressed and got rid of their clothes in the water. The whole of the races were over by about the middle of the day, and certainly we cam away feeling that we had had a very good morning's amuse- ment.
With the exception of the one or two points noticed above there -was nothing whatever risque or objectionable in these matches, -and they are certainly calculated to encourage very much the useful art of swimming. We should be glad to see them under proper regulations established and popular at all our sea-bathing places. Bathing is a subject on which there exists a good deal of prudery in the English mind. It may not be out of place to re- mark that amongst the most immoral people in the world, the Hindoos, it is considered absolutely indecent even for men to bathe undressed, while amongst the Burmese, the only really pure Eastern race; by whom the marriage vow is really respected, men and women bathe together. We would not imply too much from this fact and would yield to no one in the vehemence of our protest -against any custom which threatened in the least degree to under- mine the real modesty of the nation ; on the other hand, we shall -always set our faces against mock-modesty, which is only a thin Ten for nastiness of mind, and for our own parts would almost as .soon see our women bathing with men as putting frills round the legs of their pianofortes.
Previous page
