Otter Swimming Club, Annual Report & Accounts, 2012
The Reflecting Pool of Society: Aquatic Sport, Leisure and Recreation in England, c. 1800-1918, Christopher Andrew Love, PhD thesis, University of York, 2003
‘The rise of competitive swimming 1840 to 1878’, Claire Parker, The Sports Historian, No. 21 (2)
‘Water Defences: The Arts of Swimming in Nineteenth-Century Culture’, Vybarr Cregan-Reid, Critical Survey, Vol 16, No. 3
“What Girl Will Now Remain Ignorant Of Swimming?” Agnes Beckwith, Aquatic Entertainer and Victorian Role Model’, Dave Day, Women’s History Review Vol 21, Issue 3, 2012
Websites and blogs
Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide http://thames.me.uk/, is an invaluable treasure trove when it comes to the river’s history and was the starting point for many an investigation.
Other useful websites:
Boulter’s to Bray Swim http://www.maidenheadswim.co.uk/
Brian Gautier’s Family History Data http://www.gautier.me.uk/webtrees/index.php?ctype=gedcom
Chalkwell Redcaps Open Water Swimming Club http://chalkwellredcaps.co.uk/
The Channel Swimming Association http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/
The Channel Swimming & Piloting Federation http://cspf.co.uk
City of London Archaeological Society http://www.colas.org.uk/ http://edwardthesecond.blogspot.co.uk/
The Greenwich Phantom http://www.thegreenwichphantom.co.uk/
Henley Open Water Swim Club http://www.henleyswim.com/how-swim-club/
Henley Swimming Club http://www.henleyswimmingclub.org.uk/
H2Open Magazine http://www.h2openmagazine.com/
International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame http://imshof.org/
International Swimming Hall of Fame http://www.ishof.org/
Kingston Ladies Swimming Club http://www.klsc.org.uk/
Lost lidos http://www.lostlidos.co.uk/
Lost Olympics www.lostolympics.co.uk and https://www.facebook.com/LostOlympics
Museum of London Docklands http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/docklands/
Pathé News http://www.britishpathe.com/
Richmond Swimming Club http://www.richmondswimmingclub.org.uk/
River & Rowing Museum http://rrm.co.uk/
River Runs, Tracey Warr http://traceywarrwriting.com/
Southend Museum http://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/
Sporting Lives by Keith Myerscough http://sportinglives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/missannie-luker-it-was-possible-for.html and http://sportinglives.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/missagnes-beckwith-agnes-beckwith.html,
Thames pilot http://www.thamespilot.org.uk
Thurrock Local History Society http://www.thurrock-history.org.uk/
Tommy Burns Victorian diver http://www.tommyburns.org.uk/
Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/
Visit Thames http://www.visitthames.co.uk/
Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta http://wsregatta.co.uk/
Windsor Swimming Club http://www.windsorswimmingclub.co.uk/
Acknowledgements
This has been the happiest non-fiction book I’ve ever written because swimmers love the Thames and they want others to as well. Around 150 people have given their time and help, dug through their archives, shared their memories and own research, and put me in touch with other swimmers.
But it’s also been tricky to write because documentation can be frustratingly hard to find, reports can be conflicting and I’ve had to restrict myself to only a few places and individuals when there are so many more stories to tell.
I’m extremely grateful to Dr Ian Gordon, team doctor to the Great British swimming team, who has extensive knowledge of swimming history and an incredible archive of images that he generously allowed me to dip into and reproduce in this book.
Thanks also to:
Those whose enthusiasm, tips and advice started me off or kept me going, particularly Dave Day, Jean Perraton, Iain Keenan, Simon Inglis, Dorian Gerhold, Simon Griffiths, Keith Myerscough and Chris Romer-Lee.
The relatives of Thames champions who have shared their family history and archives: Brian Gautier, Doloranda Pember, Ian McAllister, Jill Morrison, Cathy Stroud and Barbara Allen.
All those who read the manuscript and made crucial comments and corrections, especially Andy Nation, Lewis Pugh, Gill Clark, Dr Pieter van der Merwe, Rose Baillie, Charlie Wittmack, Mark Davies, Simon Wenham, June Sampson and Heather Armitage.
To the Chalkwell Redcaps and SwimTrek for organising two of my swims, Martin Garside from the PLA for taking me out on a patrol boat, and Brian Cox for donating an 1875 pocket watch won by Thames champion David Ainsworth.
All those from history societies, archives, museums and libraries, aside from those named in the text they are: Elizabeth Velluet from the Richmond Local History Society, Ruth MacLeod from the Wandsworth Heritage Service, Janet Smith from the Wandsworth History Society, Joyce Brown from the Oxfordshire History Centre, Helen Batten from the River Thames Society, Amy Graham from Kingston Museum and Heritage Service, and the British Library Reference Team.
Thank you to the Museum of London for permission to quote from the memories of Kathleen Ralphs, Piers Plowright for a copy of his radio programme Thames Crossings, BBC Radio 4, 2013, and his poem ‘Thames Side Stomp’, Peter Daniel for his father’s Thames memories, Tracey Warr for permission to quote from Jenny Rogers’ memories (http://www.vilma.cc/river/), Alan Hall for a copy of The Diving Venus, Falling Tree Productions, BBC Radio 4, 2011.
Everyone who provided images for the book including: Dad, Frank Chalmers, Brian Gautier, Jack Taylor, Gill Clark, Emma Craggs, Human Race, the Great Swim Series, Ella Foote, Katia Vastiau, Sue Newell, Iain Keenan, Keith Myerscough, Chris Romer-Lee, Peter Rae, Andy Nation, Ness Knight, the PLA, Southend Museum, Ian McAllister, Barbara Allen, Richard Walsh, Charlie Wittmack, Andy Stoll, Otter Swimming Club, Henley River and Rowing Museum.
And finally thanks to the team at Aurum, Robin Harvie, Lucy Warburton, Charlotte Coulthard and Richard Collins.
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First published in Great Britain
2015 by Aurum Press Ltd
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Copyright © Caitlin Davies 2015
Caitlin Davies has asserted her moral right to be identified as the Author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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