{{short description|Effort to promote women's rights}} [[File:JudgeMagazineCover25Oct1919.jpg|thumb|1919 magazine cover illustrating a woman's 'plunge' into suffrage politics]]
'''Swimming suffragists''' (or '''swimming suffragettes''') was the name for women who opposed the social norms that enforced restrictions on both what a woman could wear for public swimming as well as a woman's right to vote. They were active in the 1910s and 1920s across both America and England, culminating in a greater ability of women to wear bathing suits in public and achieving the right to vote with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in the United States and reforms passed in the United Kingdom in both 1918 and 1928.
== History ==
In the early 1900s, public pools and beaches required women to wear a full-body "swimming costume".<ref name="Aqua2018">{{Cite magazine |title=Swimming Toward Liberty |url=https://www.aquamagazine.com/home/article/15121375/swimming-toward-liberty |magazine=Aqua |date=August 16, 2018 |access-date=September 28, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Public opinion at the time expected women to be covered "from head to toe" in swimwear that was made of heavy wool and included shoes.<ref name="Ehrmantraut2022">{{Cite magazine |title=The Evolution of Women's Swimming: From Then to Now |url=https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/the-evolution-of-womens-swimming-from-then-to-now/ |last=Ehrmantraut |first=McKenna |magazine=Swimming World |date=October 20, 2022 |access-date=September 28, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In 1906, professional swimmer Annette Kellerman was arrested in the city of Boston for "showing too much of her arms and legs while wearing a one-piece bathing suit".<ref name="Lee2000">{{Cite web |title=Swimsuit controversy reminiscent of past |url=https://legacy.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2000/0009/0001-ma17e.html |last=Lee |first=Marie |website=Western Michigan University |date=September 12, 2000 |access-date=September 29, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In 1911, swimming coach Charlotte Epstein established the National Women's Life Saving League (NWLSL) in an effort to improve safety for girls and women in the water.<ref name="Wingert2025">{{Cite magazine |title=Setting the Pace: 5 Women Who Changed the Sport of Swimming |url=https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/iwd-setting-the-pace-5-women-who-changed-the-sport-of-swimming/ |last=Wingert |first=Katie |magazine=Swimming World |date=March 8, 2025 |access-date=September 29, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> She argued strongly against the push for women to wear stockings that covered their legs, as it would hamper a woman's ability to swim and impede their safety in the water.<ref name="Lee2000" />
1914 saw a suffrage protest in Hyde Park, London, where a group of women wore robes spelling out the word 'suffrage'. They removed the robes to reveal their bathing suits, and were arrested by police.<ref name="Laskow2018">{{Cite web |title=The Surprising History of Swimming's Suffragists |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/women-swimming-pioneers-suffrage |last=Laskow |first=Sarah |website=Atlas Obscura |date=May 11, 2018 |access-date=September 28, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Epstein and the NWLSL staged a similar protest a year later at Manhattan Beach in New York City.<ref name="Landreth2017">{{Cite book |title=Swell: A Waterbiography |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Swell/oPpQDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22swimming+suffragettes%22&pg=PG126&printsec=frontcover |last=Landreth |first=Jenny |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |pages=126-127 |isbn=9781472938978 |date=May 4, 2017 |access-date=September 30, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> A group of swimmers wore sashes reading "Votes For Women" and they competed in a swim race to rescue a mannequin wearing an "Anti-Suffrage" sash.<ref name="Jenkins2020">{{Cite book |title=Exploring Women's Suffrage Through 50 Historic Treasures |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Exploring_Women_s_Suffrage_through_50_Hi/Bc7LDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA190&printsec=frontcover |last=Jenkins |first=Jessica D. |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |page=190 |isbn=9781538112809 |date=April 20, 2020 |access-date=September 30, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> Epstein went on to found the Women's Swimming Association (WSA) in 1917, an organization dedicated to teaching swimming skills to women.<ref name="Landreth2017" /> Epstein also convinced the Amateur Athletic Union to recognize women's sports and allow women's swimming in the Olympics.<ref name="Wingert2025" /><ref name="Bennett2018">{{Cite web |title=Charlotte Epstein and the Swimming Suffragettes |url=https://www.womeninswimming.com/charlotte-epstein-and-the-swimming-suffragettes/ |last=Bennett |first=Betsey |website=WomenInSwimming.com |date=October 25, 2018 |access-date=September 28, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
The overlap between women fighting for freedom to swim at the same time as they fought for the right to vote earned them the nickname "swimming suffragists".<ref name="Laskow2018" /> Author Jenny Landreth stated: "There is a direct link between suffrage and other rights for women, a correlation between our participation in voting and our fight for swimming equality."<ref name="Laskow2018" /> Olympic gold-medalist Tiffany Cohen described swimmers like Kellerman as "pioneers".<ref name="Doup2009">{{Cite news |title=Suffragette Swimmers |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/285591112/?match=1&terms=%22swimming%20suffragettes%22 |last=Doup |first=Liz |newspaper=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |via=newspapers.com |date=November 7, 2007 |access-date=September 29, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in August 1920, recognizing the right of women in the United States to vote.<ref name="Mortimer2024">{{Cite web |title=Gertrude Ederle: the first woman to swim the English Channel |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/gertrude-ederle-first-woman-swim-swam-english-channel-matthew-webb-american/ |last=Mortimer |first=Gavin |website=historyextra.com |date=May 28, 2024 |access-date=October 1, 2025 |language=en}}</ref> The United Kingdom granted voting rights to women over the age of 30 with the passage of the Representation of the People Act 1918 followed by granting voting rights to women over the age of 21 with the passage of the Representation of the People Act 1928.<ref name="Sen2019">{{Cite web |title=The Battle That Led to the Voting Rights of Women in the United Kingdom |url=https://www.rightsofequality.com/the-battle-which-led-to-the-voting-rights-of-women-in-britain/ |last=Sen |first=Swagata |website=RightsOfEquality.com |date=January 4, 2019 |access-date=October 1, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
*History of swimming *History of swimwear *Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom *Women's suffrage in the United States
== References ==
{{reflist}} {{Authority control}}
Category:History of swimming Category:History of voting rights in the United States Category:Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Category:Women's suffrage in the United States Category:Women's swimming