'Feats of fancy' and 'marvels of muscle' : a social history of swimming in late colonial Melbourne

Abstract

The history of competitive swimming in nineteenth century Australia has been relatively well documented, with several publications dedicated to the social, cultural and statistical dimensions of the sport. However, little academic attention has been directed toward the manner in which swimming was promoted to the public, and the cultural influences surrounding this endorsement. In order to address such a deficiency, this thesis examines how the activity of swimming was represented in the Melbourne press at the end of the nineteenth century. Through a systematic analysis of selected metropolitan, suburban, sporting and specialist newspapers, a number of factors are identified as integral to the development of competitive swimming in Melbourne specifically, and in the colony of Victoria more generally