not meant that these advantages were limited to the male sex. On
the contrary, I am strongly of opinion that swimming is an exercise
equally, if not more, adapted to women as to men. Men have their
hundreds of games and occupations that keep their muscles in constant
and varied play. From these women are practically debarred, and the
exigencies of society limit their exercises to but few, and some of
these can only be enjoyed by the wealthier classes. The tyranny of
fashion, too, compels them to dress themselves in a manner specially
unfavorable to healthy exercise, and the consequence is that thousands
fall into ill health which might be averted if their muscular system
and circulation had only a fair chance. Swimming, which must be
performed without the restraints of fashionable garments, is of all
others the kind of exercise from which most advantage may be reaped. To
most women, also, swimming comes easier than to men. Their bodies are
generally of less specific gravity, and so float more easily in water,
whether fresh or salt. This being so they sooner acquire the confidence
necessary to make good swimmers. Then, as the water sustains the whole
weight of the body, and as they are no longer restrained by the bands,
bones and laces of their dress, they are free to bring into full play,
without fatigue, all those muscles which have hitherto been kept in
thrall by the milliner’s devices.
As a means of maintaining and even restoring health, then, swimming in
the open air is of still greater importance to women than to men. But I
have shown that even in the matter of tepid swimming baths the wants of
the other sex have been almost totally ignored, for with the exception
of the little bath in York Terrace and the Wednesday morning’s use of
the smallest of the Marylebone baths, there is actually no provision
in London for women’s swimming. As far as regards open-air swimming
they have been left out of consideration altogether. Now, if open-air
swimming baths are to be established in London, the interests of
the softer sex should be considered as much as those of the rougher
gender. With this view I would give up the Regent’s Park lake to the
ladies, for which it is already adapted by its inferior depth—4 feet, I
believe. For the same reason it may perhaps be thought best to make the
proposed bath in St. James’s Park one for ladies only, and if the bath
in the Serpentine be only made large enough, there is ample space there
for all the wants of the male sex at that end of the town.[9] The water
in Victoria Park in its present condition is, of course, better adapted
for a men’s bath, but in the event of a women’s bath being required
there, which I doubt not will be the case, one of the other lakes might
be given up for the purpose, or a new lake altogether constructed, for
which there is room enough in the park.
[9] If it is considered desirable to limit the construction of
swimming baths at first to the Serpentine, a ladies’ swimming
bath might be made in the portion of it contained in
Kensington Gardens.
When women take to swimming, as I have no doubt they will eagerly when
opportunity offers, they will, of course, have to abandon their useless
and inconvenient bathing gowns and adopt the dress universally worn by
their sisters on the continent, or something equally well adapted to
allow free play to the limbs.
When London sets the example, our provincial towns will soon follow its
lead, and when once open-air swimming baths become general throughout
the land, we may hope one day to cease to deserve the reproach—that
though we live in a sea-surrounded and lake and river-abounding
country, a much smaller proportion of its inhabitants can swim well
than is to be found in many continental countries which have none of
our aquatic advantages.
Transcriber’s Note
Apart from one instance of punctuation normalisation, the text
is presented as printed in the original, including inconsistent
hyphenation (ironwork/iron-work/iron work, open-air/open air,
spring-board/spring board, spring-lock/spring lock), period spelling
(accessaries, asphalte, gaselier, Shakspeare) and northern dialect
words (wersh, caller).