The history of swimming and related sports in South Africa, Rhodesia, and South West Africa from 1900 to 2000 and beyond. 

The British Empire established a base in the Cape Colony in 1806, to keep Napoleon at bay and to control the Far East trade routes around Africa. The transplanted British colonists imported their culture and norms, including a love for water sports, encouraged locally by the hot Cape summer weather. Sports clubs were established for water polo, swimming, diving and lifesaving activities.

Water festivals held in the Cape Town dry dock were popular entertainment for the Victorians. They also swam and played in rivers and dams and oceans, and built tidal pools and indoor swimming pools. Betting also played a big part in promoting sporting events. When Charteris Hooper became the first man to swim from Robben Island in 1909, he did it to win a bet.

The South African Amateur Swimming Union, with the Western Province and Eastern Province as its founder members, was established in Port Elizabeth, during the Boer War. After the war, the Swimming Union expanded to all parts of the country and Rhodesia.