Name of Women's History Book
Fighting the Current: The Rise of American Women's Swimming, 1870-1926
Author(s)
Lisa Bier
Book or Author Website (optional)
http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Current-American-Swimming-1870-1926/dp/07864
Details (ISBN #, date, publisher, # pages)
McFarland, 2011, ISBN-13: 978-0786440283, 220 pages
What is the book about?
This book covers the history of women's swimming in the United States, beginning in the 1860's and continuing up to Gertrude Ederle's swim of the English Channel in 1926. Women faced many obstacles to swimming, including finding clean, safe places to swim, restrictive bathing suits, and opposition from some sporting organizations. Nonetheless, women were swimming competitively by the 1870's, taking part in marathon swims by the turn of the century, and important proponents of swimming education and the lifesaving movement. In 1920, female swimmers became the first American women to compete in the Olympic Games.
What makes this book unique?
This book is unique because there is no other book that covers this topic for this early time frame. The stories of these amazing athletic pioneers, including some of America's first female Olympic champions, have been largely forgotten.
Lessons Learned
- That women have been competing athletically for longer than most of us know
