Springbok colours were the highest sporting honour a South African could achieve. The award was highly coveted as Springboks of any sports were revered.

Karen Muir was never allowed to compete in an Olympic Games. Despite that she totally dominated international women's backstroke for 5 years, beating Olympic champions and setting 18 world records in South Africa and overseas.

Over the years several aquatic sports competitors, teams and coaches have visited South Africa and Rhodesia, competing in local events and participating in clinics and exhibitions.

Newspapers, Magazines, Provincial yearbooks, Biographies, Histories and pamphlets and other swimming related publications from southern Africa.

In 1952, the University of Oklahoma was one of the first institutions to attract foreign athletes, by recruiting South African swimmers. Many others have since followed, including coaches like Cecil Colwin (right).

People involved with aquatic sports commonly collected newspaper articles, telegrams, photographs and other memorabilia connected to their sport. These were often placed into large scrapbooks.

Coaches provide the continuity in any sport, although they seldom get credited with the success of their charges. They bring decades of experience, knowledge and passion for their sport to bear on the raw talent of their athletes, without whom the swimmers would have little chance of realizing their own potential as competitors

Aquatic sports in South Africa was traditionally amateur spoorts managed on a provincial basis, by a national governing body known as the South African Amateur Swimming Union (SAASU). At the time of it's founding in 1899 the first member Provinces of SAASU just were Western Province and Eastern Province. The first national water polo championship event, known as the Currie Cup Tournament, was held at Port Elizabeth in 1900.

Inter-varsity aquatic sports began in 1929, between the Universities of Cape Town, Pretoria and Witwatersrand. The person most closely identified with SAU aquatics was Harry Getz, and much of the information about SAU came from his archives.

Swimmers like Muriel Ensore-Smith, who died young. Many remain forgotten today.

The Portuguese colonists in Mozambique and Angola played only a small part in the history of aquatic sports of southern Africa, but for many it was a memorable one. Manica (right) was a popluar stop for tourists on the road from Rhodesia to coast at Beira.

According to some, ancient Greeks forbade war during their Olympiad. Politics has always impacted on sporting activities, - wars, boycotts, conscription, etc. In the campiagn to enforce majority rule in all southern Africa states, sports boycotts were used by politicians as a weapon of war.

Despite the freezing winter temperatures on the highveld, the hot summers in South Africa encouraged the development of aquatic sports amongst the Europeans who settled in the sub-continent. At first they built tidal pools along the dangerous coastline of the Cape, and later followed the English tradition of indoor bathing houses.

Little information is available about the aquatic sports activities amongst the non-white communities in South Africa. Some events were reported in the press. Much more research is needed to capture this history.

Jonty Skinner, Paul Blackbeard, Lee McGregor, Geoff Grylls, Libby Burrell