The North/South Divide and the Development of Swimming in Nineteenth Century England

One of the most popular physical recreations in England today, despitethe often unfavourable climatic conditions, is swimming. The ability to swim has always been an important skill for the population of an island nation and swimming has been undertaken by men and women, young and old, as either a competitive sport or simply for enjoyment and health. Despite its general popularity, swimming has been conspicuously absent from almost all social historical accounts of British sport. A recent exception was a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport featuring a set of articles by Christopher Love that detailed the development of swimming as a sport and recreational activity in England between 1800 and 1918. The issue provided a thorough analysis of some of the major themes that influenced swimming and most other sports of the nineteenth century, such as social class, the amateur/professional debate, civic pride, rational recreation and female participation. However, despite devoting one article to 'Social Class and the Swimming World: Amateurs and Professionals', Love makes only briefmention of a critical moment in the institutionalisation of the sport - the schism between 'northern' and 'southern' swimmers.