Swimming and Women's Rights

As we celebrate women's history month in March, we remember the role swimming has made in the advancement of women's rights.

Throughout history, women have had to fight for the right to do many things. During the 1920’s, women were not only fighting for the right to vote, they were also fighting for equality in activities such as swimming. They believed that they would be furthering equality by showing their athletic side and fighting for more equal clothing options. Up to and during the 1920’s, women were required to be covered from head to toe and forced to wear a skirt and shoes while swimming. All of this clothing, often made of heavy wool, made it harder for women to swim fast.

According to Swimming World Magazine, “women were not allowed to participate in the Olympics until 1912 (men began competing in what we would consider the modern day Olympics in 1896), but American women were not eligible to swim until the Olympics of 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium, due to the long skirt rule in the 1910s which required women to wear full length skirts and show no leg. The only events swum by women at the time were the 100m free, 300m free, and 4x100m free relay.”

“During this transitional period, what women wore was usually more important than their training. It was frowned upon at the time for women to reveal any skin, so wearing shorter swim suits or skin tight suits was often forbidden. Besides the struggle to cut through the water (think of how hard T-shirt races are), women were also struggling to maintain a consistent training regimen due to taking a week off of training each month during their period. Swimming is a sport that requires dedication to become great, and it wasn’t until 20 years after being assimilated into Olympic competition that women began swimming year-round without constant breaks due to the invention of tampons.”

Can you believe that it wasn’t even until the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo that women finally gained equality in competitive swimming events when they were allowed to swim the 1500m freestyle?

So the next time your coach makes you swim with a drag swim suit or in a baggy shirt, just remember the female swimmers over 100 years ago in their wool dresses!

Excerpts taken from https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/the-evolution-of-womens-swimming-from-then-to-now/.