CANTERAS INFORMALES

With the advent of ladies-only swimming contests, the actions of the girls’ state schools swimming clubs began to draw increased attention from the press, providing further publicity for the female swimming movement. As Burroughs has noted, the role of women’s swimming in challenging the status quo in the public arena was instrumental in providing empowerment and ‘freedom of expression’ for women, in a period where they had little political impact.927 Therefore, it is unsurprising that once established, women’s swimming in Melbourne began to grow at a rapid rate, and it is

924

‘Minetta’, ‘Lady’s Letter’, Melbourne Punch, 15 February 1900, p. 161.

925

‘Ladies Open Column’, Weekly Times, 17 February 1900, p. 30.

926

‘Middle Brighton Ladies Swimming Tournament’, Australasian, 25 February 1899, p. 421.

927

significant that the ladies’ races held at regular VASA carnivals began to attract further interest.928

Swimming races for women were frequently held at traditionally male carnivals in the 1899/1900 season.929 It appears that these became more patronised, with a ladies’ race in March 1899 attracting over a dozen entries.930 In what was a major stamp of approval for women’s swimming, Melbourne Swimming Club included a ladies’ race as a ‘novelty’ in their 1900 annual carnival, and as the Sportsman correspondent stated, ‘needless to say, it created no little excitement’.931 However, despite the advent of these swimming clubs, races and carnivals for ladies, the press were still not respectful of the idea of women swimming. Rather than condemning them for participating, though, the consensus was that they needed to swim better! When discussing a ladies’ carnival at Geelong in April 1900, the Table Talk correspondent mused, ‘Most women seem to be not quite sure if they can swim or not. They have learnt, but I think perhaps they have forgotten - they can swim about 5yds etc’.932

However, the notion of women as competent swimmers also began to gain more attention in the press, and began to challenge some of the misconceptions surrounding women’s swimming. In 1899, Melbourne Punch ran a short fictional story in their newspaper titled ‘Two in a Boat and Out: A Tale of a Lady Swimmer’, which detailed the rescue of a drowning man by his female companion after their yacht capsized. Prior to the incident, the male is wary at the girl’s revelations of her prizes for swimming and athletics, stating that ‘a wife that hustled would presently be following me to the tomb’. After being rescued, however, the story ends with ‘He took the wet form to his dripping bosom, and – well, he is now the most conspicuous and most prized of all her swimming trophies, and says all his girls shall be taught to swim like their duck of a mother’.933 Again, this example reinforces the perceived utilitarian purpose of competitive swimming as a means of saving life, and the juxtaposition of

928

See ‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 11 March 1899, p. 27.

929

For examples, see ‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 10 February 1900, p. 19; ‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 31 March 1900, p. 18, and ‘Unda’, ‘Swimming’, Australasian, 3 March 1900, p. 469.

930

‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 11 March 1899, p. 27.

931

‘Swimming’, Sportsman, 27 February 1900, p. 3.

932

‘Sporting’, Table Talk, 5 April 1900, p. 20.

933

this against the widespread view of the athletic female. These positive depictions of sporting aquatic women reinforced the sport as being both acceptable to the status quo, and demonstrated that female athleticism need not be as extreme as the ‘New Woman’ depictions would suggest.

In response to the continued success of the Brighton ventures, the idea of ladies’ swimming clubs was soon manifested in other areas. A meeting held in Geelong in March 1900 resulted in the formation of the Geelong Ladies’ Swimming Club, with approximately 70 women joining the club.934 The elected president, Mrs W. P. Carr, was the mayoress of Geelong, with a mixture of married and unmarried ladies occupying committee positions. It was decided that ladies’ swimming matches would be held in Geelong before the close of the season.935 These matches were held in April 1900, with one correspondent commenting that it was a curious time to begin a swimming club, but ‘no doubt the ladies know their business’.936 Like the Brighton matches, no men were permitted to enter. According to one female correspondent, this was unfortunate, as ‘the swimming was well worth seeing by mere men’.937 One race was won by the mayoress of Geelong, which reportedly ‘set a good example to other married women in keeping up that physical exercise so essential to all women who like to be thoroughly healthy and strong’.938 The swimming was generally acknowledged as being of a high quality, but according to the Geelong Times, not all swimmers ‘could be termed graceful exponents of the natatorial art’.939 As observed in regard to the Brighton ladies’ event, the public demonstrated their support of the activity through some liberal donations of trophies for the winning women.940

With the rapid development of women’s competitive swimming in Melbourne, the effect of this on the spectatorship at the male carnivals must be questioned. Far from having an adverse effect, it would appear that more women attended than ever before. Press correspondents continued to comment positively on the vast number of females attending the events. In regard to the 1899 Melbourne club’s championship meeting,

934

‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 7 April 1900, p. 18.

935

‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 24 March 1900, p. 19.

936

‘Sporting’, Table Talk, 5 April 1900, p. 20.

937

‘Minetta’, ‘Lady’s Letter’, Melbourne Punch, 5 April 1900, p. 329.

938

‘Minetta’, ‘Lady’s Letter’, Melbourne Punch, 5 April 1900, p. 329.

939

‘Overarm’, ‘Swimming’, Weekly Times, 7 April 1900, p. 18.

940

the Weekly Times commented that ‘a ladies day was advertised, and as will be seen by our pictures the fair sex was strongly represented; in fact, there would appear to have been more ladies present than gentlemen’.941 In 1900, Sportsman commented that the Melbourne club ladies’ day carnival attendance reached a record 900 persons, with a large proportion of these being women.942

It would seem that participation in their own activities did nothing to detract from the female enjoyment of the male competitions, which undoubtedly contributed greatly to the eventual male acceptance of the activity. After all, women who did not swim still attended these carnivals for the same reasons that they had before the female carnivals existed. Additionally, aquatically capable women were now able to enjoy a new appreciation for the sportive aspect of swimming carnivals, having experienced it directly first-hand. As the male population grew to accept the notion of women competing in swimming, whether as novelty or sport, women were also able to compete at VASA carnivals if they so desired. Women’s carnivals were still infrequent, and did not possess the entertaining aspects that the large-scale VASA club carnivals could provide. Therefore, they were not a direct threat to the male activities, and as long as the women continued to support the male competitions, this threat was minimised.

5.8 Conclusions

From examining the press reports on swimming for women in Melbourne in this period, it would appear that the popular opinions regarding competitive sport for women were not reflected in swimming. The associated health benefits and lifesaving skills outweighed any issues of modesty, and given its gradual evolution from recreation to competition, it was a notion that society became slowly accustomed to. The absence of criticism from the press, particularly in the face of the ‘New Woman’ threat, indicates that Melbourne women were participating in the activity in an appropriately feminine fashion. They were attired appropriately, competed separately from men and did not outwardly exhibit the same competitive characteristics as the male swimmers. Most importantly, they maintained a passive role in regard to their position within the male competitive sporting institution.

941

Weekly Times, 4 March 1899, p. 14.

942