Swimming World January 2022 Presents – ISHOF Feature: Remembering San Francisco’s Sutro Baths

Swimming World January 2022 - Remembering San Francisco's Sutro Baths

Cliff House, Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights exterior. [PHOTO COURTESY INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING HALL OF FAME]

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ISHOF Feature: Remembering San Francisco’s Sutro Baths

By Bruce Wigo

Located on the ocean side of the southerly entrance to San Francisco Bay’s Golden Gate, the Sutro Baths—built in the 1890s by Adolph Sutro and eventually destroyed in the 1960s—was the world’s largest indoor swimming facility and one of the most amazing recreational and entertainment complexes ever built.

In 1888, Adolph Sutro, “King of the Comstock” and one of the wealthiest men in America, was finally in a position to fulfill a lifelong dream: to build a Public Bath that would rival in magnitude the beauty and utility of the Roman Baths.

Sutro came by his dream naturally enough. He had been born in Aachen, Prussia, a city with a rich history as Charlemagne’s imperial city, known for its thermal springs and bathing culture since Roman times. Long before Charlemagne bathed in the warm waters of his Pfalz, the Romans had discovered Aachen and named the town after the Celtic god of water and health. Today, Aachen remains noted as a spa resort.

Adolph Sutro arrived in California in 1850 at the age of 20 shortly after gold had been discovered at Sutter’s Mill. He was a clothier by trade, a mining engineer by education and an entrepreneurial visionary.

He made his first fortune by solving the problem of ventilating and draining the deep mines of the “Comstock Lode.” Then he used his underground expertise to excavate tunnels for railroads serving the Bay Area. He invested much of his fortune in San Francisco real estate, and by 1881, he owned 10% of all the land in the city, including the Cliff House and a large track of land on the Pacific coast.

BUILD IT, AND THEY WILL COME
So what does a boy from Aachen do when he becomes as wealthy as a Roman emperor? He builds a magnificent Public Bath like they did in Rome—and the public rewarded him by electing him mayor of the city before it opened.

For Adolph Sutro, the idea of a beach bathhouse, like those on the East coast in Atlantic City and Coney Island, was impractical. The Pacific Ocean was always cold, and as Mark Twain famously said, the coldest winter he ever experienced was a summer in San Francisco.

So, he decided to build an indoor, heated bathing complex that would rival the architectural and engineering achievements of any bathing establishment built by any Roman emperor or modern pool designer.

Sutro began planning his lavish Bath in 1888 by offering architectural firms a $500 prize for the best design. Local architects C.J. Colley and Emil S. Lemme, who had also designed his magnificent Cliff House, won the prize.

After years of amazing engineering and design work—and a long fight with the Southern Pacific Railway Company for the rights to build a trolley service to get customers from downtown to his natatorium—Sutro Baths “officially” opened in 1896.

THERE’S MORE
Like the Public Baths of the Roman era, Sutro offered more than just bathing for his customers. There were promenades and pavilions with sequestered alcoves, galleries, many staircases and corridors adorned with artifacts and specimens collected from his travels, including tropical plants and flowers, fountains, Egyptian mummies, Aztec pottery, Chinese swords, stuffed birds and animals and Indian totems.

To continue reading more about the historic San Francisco Sutro Baths,
Click here to download the full January issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!

[Photo Courtesy: Robert Hanashiro / USA Today Sports]

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FEATURES

012 THE TOP 5 STORIES OF 2021
by David Rieder
While the pandemic and its massive effects on the sport were the lone top story of 2020, the action in the pool returned to center-stage in 2021. Unsurprisingly, the focus of the year’s top stories centers on Tokyo, where the Olympics produced some amazing performances and historic results.

016 2021 ATHLETES OF THE YEAR
by Dan D’Addona and Matthew De George

Diving: Shi Tingmao, China & Xie Siyi, China
Artistic Swimming: Svetlana Kolesnichenko & Svetlana Romashina, Russia
Water Polo: Maddie Musselman, USA & Filip Filipovic, Serbia
Paralympic: Jessica Long, USA & Maksym Krypac, Serbia

018 THE GREATEST WORLD RECORDS IN HISTORY
by John Lohn
As the 2022 campaign gets underway, Swimming World decided to look at the greatest world records in history. No, this is not a perfect science, but the eight records featured are—plain and simple—spectacular in nature and deserve all-time recognition.

020 ISHOF FEATURE: REMEMBERING SAN FRANCISCO’S SUTRO BATHS
by Bruce Wigo
Located on the ocean side of the southerly entrance to San Francisco Bay’s Golden Gate, the Sutro Baths—built in the 1890s by Adolph Sutro and eventually destroyed in the 1960s—was the world’s largest indoor swimming facility and one of the most amazing recreational and entertainment complexes ever built.

024 2021 WORLD & AMERICAN RECORD PROGRESSION
by David Rieder

026 SWIMMING TOWARD GREATNESS
by David Rieder
Australia’s Ariarne Titmus first beat Katie Ledecky, history’s greatest female distance swimmer, at the 2019 World Championships. She repeated the feat this past summer at the Tokyo Olympics, and now has her sights set on achieving even more challenging goals.

029 NUTRITION: CHILLED TO THE BONE
by Dawn Weatherwax
Bone broth is a home remedy worth adding whether you live in a cold or warm climate.

034 MENTAL PREP: BEFORE THE BEEP WITH MAX McHUGH
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COACHING

032 SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: MAXIMIZING SWIMMING VELOCITY (Part 7)—OPTIMAL STROKE CYCLE FOR BUTTERFLY AND FREESTYLE
by Rod Havriluk
A swimmer who takes full advantage of the propulsive phase and eliminates the wasted time on the non-propulsive phase can optimize stroke cycle time. This article presents optimal times for both the propulsive and non-propulsive phases of butterfly and freestyle with corresponding predicted performance improvements.

036 COLLEGE SWIMMING POST-COVID
by Michael J. Stott
College swim coaches from around the country offer their thoughts on how COVID has affected their sport.

042 SPECIAL SETS: LETITIA SIM—DYNAMITE TALENT FROM TNT SWIMMING
by Michael J. Stott
Coach Jan Mittemeyer shares some sets he has given to Letitia Sim and her fellow senior swimmers at TNT Swimming in Daphne, Ala. Now swimming for Michigan, Sim was 2021’s No. 1-ranked recruit from Alabama and 15th nationally.

043 Q&A WITH COACH BRENT ARCKEY, SARASOTA SHARKS (Fla.)
by Michael J. Stott

044 HOW THEY TRAIN OLYMPIC SILVER MEDALIST EMMA WEYANT
by Michael J. Stott

TRAINING

031 DRYSIDE TRAINING: READY, SET, GO!
by J.R. Rosania
With the new year, it’s time to think about what lies ahead and how to begin preparation for winter and early spring racing. This month’s dryland article focuses on exercises for each stroke and some explosive and core training exercises.

JUNIOR SWIMMER

039 GOLDMINDS: THE ART OF SWIMMING
by Wayne Goldsmith
The key to fast swimming is to follow the coach’s leadership and guidance, but it’s also important to choose and make the workout special and unique just for you.

047 UP & COMERS: MAXIMUS WILLIAMSON
by Shoshanna Rutemiller

COLUMNS

008 A VOICE FOR THE SPORT

009 DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT OSCAR NORIN, CHAMPION HIGH DIVER OF THE WORLD?

041 THE OFFICIAL WORD

046 MOMS AT MEETS: BETH CURTISS

048 GUTTERTALK

049 PARTING SHOT

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To find out more, visit us at ishof.org

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