Pools and other Places Where did the people of South Africa like to swim?
Several factors influence sports culture in a society. The expectations of the dominant governing class, which determines where to allocate public funds, as well as the types of places and facilities available, play a major role in this process.
Cultural norms affect the location, construction and maintenance of facilities used for sporting activities. In racially segregated societies typical of colonial Africa, the norms of the ruling class dictated the type of sports played by their members, as well as who was allowed to participate in them.
In southern Africa, these norms were expressed by the colonial Europeans in various ways, including the construction of swimming pools, the creation of sports clubs and the development of competitions.
The other communities in southern Africa, besides the English and Afrikaans (or Dutch, until 1925) were the Bantu, Coloured, Indian and Chinese racial groups. British colonial governance required segregation in the use of all facilities, including schools and sports. If these communities did not build their own facilities, they largely did not participate in activities.
Before Great Britain occupied the Dutch East Indian station at the Cape in 1795, little attention was paid to aquatic sports of any kind. The English, having introduced their enthusiasm for organized sports, built indoor swimming pools where they swam and played water polo. Water carnivals that drew large crowds were held in the "graving" or dry dock in Cape Town harbour, and clubs were set up to foster rivalries.
The whole sub-continent had been occupied by various groups for a very long time. There are thousands of Stone Age sites in the wild – caves and rock shelters; inland and along the coast – that record the way of life and history of people in the region over nearly 2 million years. The San, or Bushmen, who roamed the area leaving behind their rock art, are among the oldest cultures on Earth. Later Bantu tribes migrated into the area from central Africa, occupying the northeastern part of South Africa. These tribesmen were particularly warlike (genocidal) amongst themselves, and any San peoples found along the way.
The Europeans came into the area next. The first Portuguese reached Mozambique in 1498, and then the Dutch, in the form of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), set up their African settlement at the Cape in 1652. They brought in people from their Indian Ocean colonies as slaves or prisoners, who later became members of the Cape Coloured community.
The British took control of the Cape in 1795 after defeating the VOC at the Battle of Muizenberg. By then the Dutch had spread northeastwards, to the Fish River and north up Governor van Plettenberg's beacon near the Orange River - 800 km away. The Dutch farmers who lived on their isolated farms usually got together once a month for the nagmaal church service. The British military presence expanded into the same space but was largely limited to the towns, where they displaced the existing Dutch political leaders.
In the post-Boer War era, there were attempts to Anglicize Afrikaner children, which their parents resisted, resulting in the creation of separate Afrikaans and English-speaking communities, each with its own schools and universities. The High Commissioner of South Africa implemented a series of reforms in South Africa, including the establishment of "Milner Schools", to promote English education and British culture. These schools were designed to provide a higher standard of education and to help integrate the population into the British Empire. Aquatic sports were generally more popular in the English communities than amongst the Afrikaners during most of the 20th century.
As public social spaces, swimming baths were physical manifestations of the municipal grandeur and pride of the city. Indeed, the swimming bath, as a building type, was a cultural and architectural artefact to be celebrated. Read more about this from Louis Grundlingh
Aquatic sports usually occur in purpose-built swimming pools, but dams, rivers, marinas, quarries, tidal pools and the ocean are also used. Recreational aquatic sport such as wild swimming is popular anywhere there is enough water, even if it might not be very safe!
Purpose-built swimming pools are varied - indoor or outdoor; public or private; above or inground; heated or not, salt or freshwater filled. They are of various lengths, usually either 25m or 50m, but older facilities include 33m, 50-yard, 55-yard or even 100-yard ones. Tidal pools are usually irregularly shaped and constructed along rocky shores of the oceans.
Today (2025) many of the pools in southern Africa are defunct. A few new facilities are still being created, often in areas with little or no demand for such a facility, resulting in the new pools becoming derelict. This is a political issue as these pools are built with taxes raised in other areas.
Click here to see a map of the dead pools of southern Africa.
Where did the people of South Africa like to swim?
Several factors influence sports culture in a society. The expectations of the dominant governing class, which determines where to allocate public funds, as well as the types of places and facilities available, play a major role in this process.
Cultural norms affect the location, construction and maintenance of facilities used for sporting activities. In racially segregated societies typical of colonial Africa, the norms of the ruling class dictated the type of sports played by their members, as well as who was allowed to participate in them.
In southern Africa, these norms were expressed by the colonial Europeans in various ways, including the construction of swimming pools, the creation of sports clubs and the development of competitions.
The other communities in southern Africa, besides the English and Afrikaans (or Dutch, until 1925) were the Bantu, Coloured, Indian and Chinese racial groups. British colonial governance required segregation in the use of all facilities, including schools and sports. If these communities did not build their own facilities, they largely did not participate in activities.
Before Great Britain occupied the Dutch East Indian station at the Cape in 1795, little attention was paid to aquatic sports of any kind. The English, having introduced their enthusiasm for organized sports, built indoor swimming pools where they swam and played water polo. Water carnivals that drew large crowds were held in the "graving" or dry dock in Cape Town harbour, and clubs were set up to foster rivalries.
The whole sub-continent had been occupied by various groups for a very long time. There are thousands of Stone Age sites in the wild – caves and rock shelters; inland and along the coast – that record the way of life and history of people in the region over nearly 2 million years. The San, or Bushmen, who roamed the area leaving behind their rock art, are among the oldest cultures on Earth. Later Bantu tribes migrated into the area from central Africa, occupying the northeastern part of South Africa. These tribesmen were particularly warlike (genocidal) amongst themselves, and any San peoples found along the way.
The Europeans came into the area next. The first Portuguese reached Mozambique in 1498, and then the Dutch, in the form of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), set up their African settlement at the Cape in 1652. They brought in people from their Indian Ocean colonies as slaves or prisoners, who later became members of the Cape Coloured community.
The British took control of the Cape in 1795 after defeating the VOC at the Battle of Muizenberg. By then the Dutch had spread northeastwards, to the Fish River and north up Governor van Plettenberg's beacon near the Orange River - 800 km away. The Dutch farmers who lived on their isolated farms usually got together once a month for the nagmaal church service. The British military presence expanded into the same space but was largely limited to the towns, where they displaced the existing Dutch political leaders.
In the post-Boer War era, there were attempts to Anglicize Afrikaner children, which their parents resisted, resulting in the creation of separate Afrikaans and English-speaking communities, each with its own schools and universities. The High Commissioner of South Africa implemented a series of reforms in South Africa, including the establishment of "Milner Schools", to promote English education and British culture. These schools were designed to provide a higher standard of education and to help integrate the population into the British Empire. Aquatic sports were generally more popular in the English communities than amongst the Afrikaners during most of the 20th century.
As public social spaces, swimming baths were physical manifestations of the municipal grandeur and pride of the city. Indeed, the swimming bath, as a building type, was a cultural and architectural artefact to be celebrated. Read more about this from Louis Grundlingh
Aquatic sports usually occur in purpose-built swimming pools, but dams, rivers, marinas, quarries, tidal pools and the ocean are also used. Recreational aquatic sport such as wild swimming is popular anywhere there is enough water, even if it might not be very safe!
Purpose-built swimming pools are varied - indoor or outdoor; public or private; above or inground; heated or not, salt or freshwater filled. They are of various lengths, usually either 25m or 50m, but older facilities include 33m, 50-yard, 55-yard or even 100-yard ones. Tidal pools are usually irregularly shaped and constructed along rocky shores of the oceans.
Today (2025) many of the pools in southern Africa are defunct. A few new facilities are still being created, often in areas with little or no demand for such a facility, resulting in the new pools becoming derelict. This is a political issue as these pools are built with taxes raised in other areas.
Click here to see a map of the dead pools of southern Africa.
One of the earliest mentions of a public swimming pool in South Africa dates from the London Times in 1869 - which refers to an open-bottom swimming enclosure floating in Table Bay. The storm mentioned was the Great Gale of 1865.
Public swimming pools have played an important part in developing aquatic sports in southern Africa. Municipalities have been building and maintaining pools since the early 20th century, often set up a commercial enterprises. An indoor pool once existed in Camps Bay around the turn of the century, and the Long Street indoor bath still functions in 2025.
The pools were of varying dimensions, such as the 9-lane Newton Park pool and the Rachael Finlayson Beach Baths which was 100 yards long, while the Long Street indoor bath is 33,3 yards, before being converted to 25 meters. By the 1950's the pools were a mix of lengths, with 55 yards being common.
FINA had decreed that world records could only be set in 50 metre or 55-yard length pools by 1957, and by January of 1969, they only recognised records set in 50-metre pools. When Karen Muir broke two world records for the 440-yard Individual Medley in 1969, neither was ever recognised as a world record, because FINA would accept records set in 50-metre metric swimming pools.
Organized aquatic sports were introduced to southern Africa by the British and Portuguese colonists. The objective of this website project is to publish any information about sporting events, locations, institutions and participants in aquatic sports since they were introduced during the 19th century. Little relevance is given to political motives or agendas.
Click here to see a Map of the locations where aquatic sports and activities take place, including swimming pools, dams, rivers, and oceans.
Note the numerous dead pools (black dots) on the Map that indicate a visible ruin of a swimming pool.
This map shows the twelve provinces and their main centres that made the sporting provinces governed by the South African Amateur Swimming Union (SAAS) since its founding in 1899, until it was disbanded in 1993. The founding provinces were the Eastern Province and the Western Province, with the other entities being added over the years. Rhodesia joined in 1920 and left in 1980, while South West Africa left in 1990.
The Union of South Africa was created by Great Britain after the Boer War in 1910, through the combination of the two Afrikaner republics - the Transvaal and the Orange Free State- and the two British colonies - Natal and the Cape Colony. This pre-1994 map shows the sporting provinces of South Africa that existed until 1994 when they were disbanded by the new ANC government.
Athletes from Rhodesia and South West Africa participated in sporting activities of South Africa until their independence. There was also some limited local involvement of swimmers from the other neighbouring states - Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique. Children from those countries often attended school in South Africa, where they participated in local sporting activities. Since the end of the sporting boycotts of South Africa, some international events are being hosted in these countries, where aquatic sports are now developing.