Page 8 - 2017 Year In Review

Who Shot The Swimmers:

A History of American Swimming Through the Photographic Lens

The Early Years century: celebrated star of stage and

The history of sports photography screen, fitness guru and entrepreneur.
Every girl growing up in the first
must be viewed through the prism quarter of the last century wanted to
of technological innovation, begun be like her - a swimmer. Kellerman
in the nineteenth century with spawned an industry of “Diving Girls”
tintypes and glass plates continuing acts that featured a bevy of shapely
to digital storage cards today. Until water nymphs wearing “their tight-
the mid 1920s, cameras used by fitting, skirt-less Annette Kellerman
professional photographers were jerseys.” Performing in portable steel
large clunky boxes with tripods and glass tanks as circus acts
to keep them steady for the long or in vaudeville theaters,
duration of each exposure. The the girls demonstrated
majority of the early images of prominent swimmers were spectacular diving abilities
standing portraits or in posed situations, giving the sense of and gave exhibitions of
action. The growing interest in sports and competition among fancy swimming, circa 1915.
newspapers and magazines for readers created a demand for Ethelda Bleibtry and Duke
more and more creative images of Pao Kahanamoku, the two
athletes, particularly female athletes in stars of the 1920 Olympic
“risque” bathing costumes. Games. Bleibtry won gold in
all swimming events open to women: the 100m, 300m and 4 x
Late 1800s tintype photos were 100 freestyle relay. Had there been backstroke, she would have
popular among bathers at boardwalk won that too. A native of Hawaii,
studios at the nation’s beach resorts. Duke burst onto the international
E. Carroll Schaeffer was America’s swimming scene in 1911, when in
first great swimmer. Swimming for the his first timed race he broke the
University of Pennsylvania from 1898 100m world open water record by 3
to 1902, he held every American record from 20 yards to one 4/5 seconds. He went on to win the
mile. Called “Midget’ because of his small stature, Schaeffer 100m gold medals at the 1912 and
swam his way back from polio and weighed a scant 118 lbs. 1916 Olympic Games. One of the
when he began his brilliant swimming great advances in photojournalism
career in college. Besides being a came in 1921 with the invention
speed swimmer, he held the American of wire, or telephotography, which
record for swimming underwater (232 enables half-tone pictures to be sent
ft. 11 in). Champion swimmer Helen over telegraph wire. Pictured are members of the Women’s
Foulds in a classic woman’s diving Swimming Association of New York in Miami at the Roman
pose, wearing the competitive attire Baths for the 1923 Women’s AAU National Championships.
of the early 1900s. Charlie “Danny”
Daniels began For technical reasons
his meteoric rise dealing with light, film
in the swimming world in 1903, at the or plate and shutter
age of 17. He was the first American speed action shots were
to win an Olympic Games swimming relatively rare. Among
event, winning both the 220 yard and the earliest taken of
440 yard events at the 1904 St. Louis swimming were these
Games--the 100 meter at the 1906 two images from the
Games in Athens, Greece--and the 100 1899 AAU National
meter at the 1908 London Olympics. Swimming and Water Polo
Championships that were
Annette Kellerman, photographed in 1907 wearing her famous held in Madison Square Garden. Published in Collier’s Weekly,
one-piece bathing suit that revealed her “perfect figure.” the photos were possible because of the bright sunlight shining
She was, perhaps, the most influential woman of the 20th through the glass roof. Stereo cameras that utilized two lenses

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