Background to the first South African national aquatic championships.
According to the official Minutes of a meeting held at Port Elizabeth on the 20th October 1899, the South African Amateur Swimming Union (SAASU) was established, and William Fiddian-Green was elected president. The first two affiliated provinces were the Eastern Province and the Western Province. SAASU would promote swimming and water polo, stimulate public opinion in favour of providing proper facilities and to hold amateur championships, according to their own Rules, or following the Rules of the British Amateur Swimming Association (ASA), where necessary. The ASA was established in 1869 and had developed a set of Rules for this purpose.
Note: The first national swimming championships were held in Australia in 1846. This initial event was a 440-yard (400-meter) race. Australia then held these championships annually. Some of the other National organising associations that were established include Germany (1882), the USA (1888), the Netherlands (1888), France (1890), New Zealand (1890), Hungary (1896), Australia (1909), and Japan (1924). The international governing body, the Fédération internationale de natation (FINA), was established in July 1908. South Africa joined FINA in 1909.
Political and other social developments
The Dutch East India Company created a refreshment station for their ships at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. It was captured (and re-captured in 1806) by British forces during the Napoleonic Wars in 1795. British influence grew significantly after 1806 when the region officially became a British Colony. This was marked by the introduction of the English language and culture, as well as attempts to reform the colony's social and political structure. The Eastern Cape region developed rapidly after the arrival of 4500 settlers from Britain in 1820. Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage, East London, Grahamstown, King Williamstown and other towns all built British-style schools for their children, many of which still exist in some form in 2025.
The British administration gradually established institutions like schools, prisons, hospitals, and museums, reflecting the colonial mindset of "civilisation, progress, and modernity". By 1899, various social and sports clubs existed in the colony.
In Cape Town, the swimming clubs included the Leander SC, Peninsula AFC (many clubs were styled as football (rugby) clubs, with a swimming section) and the City and Suburban Swimming Clubs. The extant Port Elizabeth Amateur Swimming Club officially dates from 1898. At Durban, the main centre in the British colony of Natal, the Queens Park Swimming Club was established in 1896, even though the Natal Amateur Swimming Association would only affiliate with SAASU in 1905. Swimming clubs also existed in the Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics, but they were currently at war with the British Empire, which sought to annexe those countries to acquire their mineral wealth.
A notable presence at the Cape was one "Professor" Doyle, who was the manager at the Observatory indoor swimming pool. He gave swimming lessons and demonstrated many techniques at public exhibitions. Read more about swimming professors →
The Second Boer War began on October 11, 1899, when the Transvaal and the Orange Free State declared war on the British Empire. Half a million soldiers from Britain and its Empire arrived at the ports of the Cape and Natal colonies, where they soon began to impact local events. The names of the participants at the first aquatic championships were almost exclusively English, aside from the winner of the swimming race, R. Marais, a descendant of Charles Marais, a French Huguenot who arrived at the Cape in 1688.
