Swimming Pretty: The Untold Story of Women in Water

by Vicki Valosik

Overview

A groundbreaking history of how women found synchronicity—and power—in water.

“If you’re not strong enough to swim fast, you’re probably not strong enough to swim ‘pretty,’” said a young Esther Williams to theater impresario Billy Rose. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Williams is often considered godmother.

In this revelatory history, Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, and brings to life the colorful cast of characters whose “pretty swimming” not only laid the groundwork for an altogether new sport but forever changed women’s relationships with water. Williams, who became a Hollywood sensation for her splashy “aquamusicals,” was just one in a long, bedazzled line of swimmers who began their careers as athletes but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business.

Early starlets like Lurline the Water Queen performed “scientific” swimming, a set of moves previously only practiced by men—including Benjamin Franklin—that focused on form and exhibited mastery in the water. Demonstrating their fancy feats in aquariums and water tanks rolled onto music hall stages, these women stunned Victorian audiences with their physical dexterity and defied society’s rigid expectations of what was proper and possible for their sex.

Far more than bathing beauties, they ushered in sensible swimwear and influenced lifesaving and physical education programs, helping to drop national drowning rates and paving the way for new generations of female athletes. When a Chicago physical educator matched their aquatic movements to music in the 1920s, young girls flocked to take part in “synchronized swimming.” But despite overwhelming love from audiences and the Olympic ambitions of its practitioners, “synchro” was long perceived as little more than entertaining pageantry, and its athletes would face a battle against the current to earn a spot at the highest echelons of sport.

Now, on the fortieth anniversary of synchronized swimming’s elevation to Olympic status, Swimming Pretty honors its incredible history of grit, glamor, and sheer athleticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324093053
Publisher:	Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publication date:	06/25/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	251,266
File size:	47 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Vicki Valosik is a masters synchronized swimmer whose writing has appeared in publications such as the Atlantic, Smithsonian magazine, and Slate. She is an editorial director and teaches writing at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Editorial Reviews

04/22/2024

“Women swimmers have navigated tensions between athletics and performance, sport and spectacle, for generations,” according to this comprehensive debut history. Valosik, a synchronized swimmer and Georgetown University writing instructor, traces how women’s involvement in aquatic activities has evolved alongside societal attitudes since the 18th century, when norms around female modesty required that women wear long, bulky swimming gowns that “made even the simple acts of moving or floating in the water impossible.” Increased demand for entertainment at the end of the 19th century presented an opening for some women to become “ornamental swimmers” who performed in glass tanks for paying audiences. This combination of art and exercise eventually transformed into synchronized swimming, whose evolution Valosik charts from its origins in water pageants developed by the Red Cross to promote swimming skills to the sport’s debut at the 1984 Olympic games. Profiles of notable swimmers highlight how women’s sports intersected with larger societal currents, as when Valosik suggests that 19-year-old Gertrude Ederle’s 1926 swim across the English Channel, during which she beat the fastest man’s record by over two hours, helped make the figure of the female swimmer a symbol of women’s burgeoning political freedom. An incisive marriage of sports and cultural history, this is well worth diving into. Photos. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Swimming Pretty is so much more than a history of a sport—it’s also an engrossing account of how society has controlled and contained women’s bodies and ambitions throughout history. In deft prose filled with bizarre, often startling details, Valosik reveals the trailblazing athletes and entertainers who, in soggy corsets and petticoats, encouraged generations of women to find empowerment in the water."

M. G. Lord

"Swimming Pretty plunges into the colorful, entertaining, inspiring, and sometimes enraging history of strong women who fought for athletic joy and the right to compete—cloaking their power in traditional femininity to do so. It will leave you breathless (and googling synchro videos)."

Danielle Dreilinger

"I have long been a fan of movie star synchronized swimmer Esther Williams but never knew she was just one of many pathbreaking pretty swimmers who date as far back as the nineteenth century. . . . Chock-full of history and personal stories, this is a fascinating, eye-opening book."

Ann Hood

"An amazing story about the evolution of swimming, how synchronized swimming became a kaleidoscope of political and social change, and how artistic swimming became recognized as an incredibly athletic, beautiful, and world-renowned sport. I loved this fascinating book."

Lynne Cox

"Mention ‘swimming pretty,’ and readers of a certain age may associate it with classic Hollywood pageantry in which synchronized swim performances featured glamorous mermaids creating intricate patterns on the silver screen. In this fascinating, extensively researched history, Valosik (who took up synchronized swimming as an adult) addresses a longstanding question: is it art, show business, or sport? . . . a plethora of fascinating facts combined with groundbreaking developments throughout the years will captivate readers curious about a sport that requires skills, stamina, and strength and that deserves respect."

starred review Booklist

06/21/2024

Expert synchronized swimmer Valosik, who also teaches writing at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, admirably unravels a centuries-spanning narrative about synchronized swimming's rise from music-hall water tanks to the Olympics. Though early practitioners during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras were men, women later redefined synchronized swimming with demonstrations of grace and strength in the water. Valosik's narrative is rich with the stories of swim stars such as Annette Kellerman, who defied Victorian norms with her aquatic prowess, and Esther Williams, whose "aquamusicals" dazzled Hollywood. Beyond entertainment, women swimmers influenced wide-ranging societal changes in the United States, like the design of more sensible swimwear and the creation of lifesaving programs and formalized swimming education, which reduced drowning rates and inspired generations of women athletes. Synchronized swimming's journey, from performing in aquariums to reaching Olympic glory, is a testament to these swimmers' resilience and the transformative power of sports. VERDICT A timely tribute to the glamour and athleticism of the pioneering women of synchronized swimming and their efforts to legitimize it as a sport. For readers who enjoy sports history and popular culture and for fans of Jordan Whitney-Wei's Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming.—Sara Holder

Library Journal

★ 2024-03-20
The long path to female equality has involved many byways, and one of them has been in the pool.

Valosik is editorial director at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, and she is also a masters synchronized swimmer, so she is well situated to tell the story of women swimmers from the late 19th century to the present. Swimming for women first became popular in Britain in the mid-late 1800s, and several women became famous in vaudeville acts. Some moved to the U.S. and attracted huge crowds. An Australian woman called Annette Kellerman became famous for acrobatic swimming but was also a strong voice in the drive for equal rights. There were popular group performances in the string of world fairs in the 1930s, although the key evolutionary step was adding music, which set synchronized swimming apart from other forms. Many male commentators were dismissive, partly because they did not understand the demands of it and partly out of straightforward sexism. However, as the author shows, Hollywood saw the potential, especially with the emergence of Esther Williams, a former swimming champion. She invented many of the crucial moves, and the aqua-ballet movies in which she starred became more and more spectacular. Williams, hugely popular in her heyday, demonstrated the capability of women, a critical issue when most women were confined to the home. Synchronized swimming was finally acknowledged as an Olympic sport in 1984 (the publication of this book marks its 40th anniversary). Valosik notes that the sport has recently become even more difficult, requiring feats that are increasingly complex and dangerous. Throughout this fascinating narrative, the author emphasizes the necessary blend of physicality, creativity, and grace, making readers want to pay special attention to the sport in the forthcoming Paris Olympics.

With firsthand knowledge, diligent research, and colorful prose, Valosik provides an engaging, energetic history.

Kirkus Reviews