Water Baby
This lifelong Californian thought she knew all there was to know about water and beach culture.
This summer, I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water and to then interview the author, Vicki Valosik. The publisher describes the book as a “groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity—and power—in water.” You can read the interview here: Interview with Vicki Valosik, or if you like to hold a physical book in your hands, in Kelp Journal, Issue No. 11 (summer 2024).
In the interview, you’ll find some surprising and interesting facts about the history of swimming, and of course way more if you read the book. Please do! There is so much I’ve taken for granted all my life. I was blown away to discover that women and people of color didn’t have access to swimming lessons, swimming pools, sensible swimming costumes, etc., until relatively recently. Of course, it makes sense once you hear it that women and people of color were excluded. Today, when we stereotype people of color as not being swimmers or surfers, this is how that particular myth arose. As usual, it’s about historical access to these things. And women were only allowed to “swim pretty” in entertainments until some exceptional women you’ll read about in the book paved the way for women in swimming sports.
My favorite woman profiled in Valosik’s book is Annette Kellerman. She accomplished many swimming feats, but what I admire most about her is that she went beyond breaking barriers in swimming to invent the one-piece swimsuit and to promote body positivity. Although she was born in and died in Australia, her husband was American. The couple lived in California for much of their life together, and Kellerman once owned a health food store in Long Beach, California. Her remains were scattered in the Great Barrier Reef.
A couple of summers ago, I read an advance copy of Surf and Rescue: George Freeth and the Birth of California Beach Culture. You can read my review here: Book Review: Surf and Rescue or in print in Kelp Journal, Issue No. 7 (summer 2022).
I request advance copies of books that sound interesting to me, so I can review them. They’re usually on topics I’m familiar with and think I know a lot about, but I always end up having my mind blown. In this case, I thought I knew about California beach culture—I love going to the beach and have lived near it most all of my life. But before I read this book, I’d never considered how surfing, lifeguarding, and beach culture made their way to California. I imagine these things would have become a part of California culture in some form eventually, without George Freeth, but Freeth came to California from Hawaii and spread swimming, surfing, and water safety up and down California’s coast rapidly and almost single-handedly. His is an amazing story.
Reading these books shed more light on the history of the state I live in and love and the history of so many things that are synonymous with California. They’re both great reads, and I can’t wait to read the next book that’s going to surprise me.