Downstream: A History and Celebration of Swimming the River Thames - Couverture rigide

Davies, Caitlin

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1781311196 ISBN 13 : 9781781311196

Editeur : Aurum, 2015

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Downstream is a history and celebration of swimmers relationship with the River Thames. Weaving from the source in Gloucestershire 215 miles across to the North Sea, the book tells the story of all those who have been drawn to its waters, from kings and famous poets, to Victorian endurance swimmers and modern day triathletes. 

The River Thames has been a favourite bathing spot for centuries, but it was the Victorian era that saw the birth of organised river racing. The long distance amateur championship of Great Britain attracted competitors from all over the world, while thousands gathered on wharves and barges to watch teenage champions like Agnes Beckwith and Emily Parker. 

Soon floating baths were built in London; people swam at official bathing pools and islands at Oxford, Reading and Henley, dived off pontoons at Kingston, played at temporary lidos in Richmond. Swimming clubs for men and women were formed all along the river, and by the 1930s the Thames had become a seaside resort for families, with beaches at the Tower of London, Greenwich and Grays.

Then in 1957 the river was declared biologically dead, organised racing was largely over, and by the 1970s swimming in the Thames was seen as unusual and dangerous. But in the past decade the huge resurgence in wild swimming , along with the formation of new open water clubs, means over 10,000 people now take part in organised Thames swimming events every year.

The book covers the stories of legendary swimmers like Annette Kellerman, who came to swimming as a cure for rickets and went on to swim some of the great rivers of Europe, and Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to successfully swim the Channel unaided, who used the Thames as his training ground.

It also tells the stories of forgotten champions like Jules Gautier, Lily Smith and Mercedes Gleitze, as well as interviews with every major long distance Thames swimmer since the 1980s, with Channel champions, internationally known athletes, charity fundraisers and TV celebrities.

Biographie de l'auteur :

Londoner CAITLIN DAVIES is a writer, teacher, journalist, and general fair-weather swimmer. She is the author of four non-fiction books, five novels and several short stories. Her other non-fiction books include Taking the Waters (9780711232389) and Camden Lock and the Market (9780711233812), are both published by Frances Lincoln. 

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Aurum
• Date d'édition: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1781311196
• ISBN 13: 9781781311196
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 400