Articles related to swimming and other aquatic sports in southern Africa

National colours were awarded to all South Africans who competed at international sports events. 

I  am doing research on the history of Johannesburg's public spaces. Currently, I am working on the history of the Johannesburg zoo.

Many people have contributed their collections to the site, including Dutch champion Ada Kok.

A small number of biographies were published in 1949 and 1973.

Professor Finney, Jimmy Green, Rachael Finlayson, and Alex Bulley were some of the early swimming coaches in South Africa.

The first Exiles were the men who won scholarships to the University of Oklahoma in 1952. Since then many athletes from southern Africa have taken up scholarships to compete at American universities - many never returned to their homeland.

Old Guestbook entries 2008 - 2014 →

Various magazines, books, and pamphlets have recorded the aquatic sports history of South Africa. 

Athletes like Muriel Ensore-Smith, who died young. Many are forgotten.

Aquatic sports history from the Coloured, Black, and Asian communities of South Africa, as reported in the press.

An entire generation of South African athletes missed out on international competition between 1961 and 1991.

Neighbouring Mozambique had an active sporting culture, including swimming, diving, and sailing.

Australian world champion Ernest Cavill toured the Cape in 1898.

Video interviews of Geoff Grylls, Joan Harrison, Ann Fairlie and others.