{"id":265535,"date":"2017-07-11T14:00:10","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T21:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=265535"},"modified":"2017-07-11T11:35:49","modified_gmt":"2017-07-11T18:35:49","slug":"how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/","title":{"rendered":"How Women’s Swimming Paved The Way For Equality"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Erin Keaveny, Swimming World College Intern<\/em><\/p>\n

Today, swimmers like Katie Ledecky<\/strong>, Natalie Coughlin <\/strong>and Missy Franklin\u00a0<\/strong>are renowned for their accomplishments as athletes. Parents don’t think twice about whether or not their daughter should learn to swim, however it wasn’t always this way.<\/p>\n

Until around 100 years ago, swimming was an activity exclusively for men.<\/p>\n

The first female swimmers did more than pave the way for today’s Olympians. Women’s accomplishments in the water are deeply linked to how society viewed women as a whole. Advocates of women’s swimming not only changed the sport, but helped change society.<\/p>\n

In the medieval time period there were no bathing suits or swimming garments. Swimmers only dove in naked. Due to the association between a women’s modesty and morality, which defined her as a human being, women could not swim. These attitudes in western society have persisted since the dark ages.<\/p>\n

In 19th century Europe, there was a huge rise in the popularity of swimming as a men’s sport.\u00a0Yet, in his 1838 book,\u00a0Familiar Hints on Sea Bathing<\/a><\/em>, William Smith<\/strong> commented that “English ladies in general will [never] take to the amusement of swimming, which however, may prove useful in an emergency.”<\/p>\n

In 1875, Matthew Webb<\/strong><\/a> became the first man to swim across the English Channel. This feat of incredible athleticism turned Webb into an instant celebrity. Following industrialization in England, crossing the channel was seen as an incredible testament to man’s capabilities in the face of nature, and considered the epitome of Victorian manliness.\u00a0Webb continued to perform aquatic stunts, growing in fame for his acts which\u00a0showed off man’s physical abilities.<\/p>\n

Five years after Webb swam the channel, Agnes Beckwith<\/strong> treaded water for 30 hours in a Westminster aquarium tank. Her time equalled the world record previously set by Webb.<\/p>\n

Swimming is one of the few sports that can claim its place as an original Olympic event. The sport has been present in the games since the first modern Olympics in 1896, where women were not included. Yet in its premiere event, a woman known as Melpomene<\/strong>, determinedly swam the men’s course on her own.<\/p>\n

The founder of the modern Olympics,\u00a0Barron Pierre de Coubertin<\/strong>, commented<\/a> “it is incident that the spectators should be exposed to the risk of seeing the body of a woman being smashed before their very eyes. Besides, no matter how toughened a sportswoman may be, her organism is not cut out to sustain certain shocks. ”<\/p>\n

In the next Olympic Games, women were allowed to compete in three exhibition events. Nineteen women participated in tennis, golf, and croquet, sports deemed acceptable for the nature of women. In the next twenty years, women’s action drastically changed these perceptions.<\/p>\n

Annette Kellerman<\/strong><\/a> gained fame as the first woman to enter a race against men in 1905. Afterwords, she became an international sensation as an aquatic performer. Her act consisted of high diving and underwater ballet, a predecessor to modern synchronized swimming. Kellerman not only became the highest paid female circus performer in America, but an incredible advocate for women’s swimming.<\/p>\n

At the time, women were required by law to wear clothing in the water, which meant corsets, bloomers and full skirts and in many places were only permitted to wade, not swim. Where it was permitted, the burdensome clothing requirements more or less prevented women from swimming at all.<\/p>\n

In Kellerman’s native Australia, it had become somewhat acceptable for women to appear in races wearing men’s one-piece suits. This only applied in the presence of other women during competition. This kind of attire was not allowed in her\u00a01905 race or America. In order to compete, Kellerman creatively wore black stockings under a men’s one piece, effectively creating the women’s swim suit.<\/p>\n

\"annette-kellerman\"

Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress<\/p><\/div>\n

Kellerman was later arrested on Revere Beach in Boston for public indecency. She was wearing a suit with no skirt that revealed her thighs. In court, she defended\u00a0herself on the premise that swimming was the ideal exercise for women. After winning her case, Kellerman designed one of the first lines of women’s swimwear, a huge breakthrough in women’s swimming as well as freedoms.<\/p>\n

By 1912 Women’s swimming was finally introduced as an Olympic sport. Women could compete in three events, 100 meter freestyle, the 4×100 relay and diving. Still, due to the Amateur Athletic Union’s policy on women’s sports, American women were not permitted to compete.<\/p>\n

Women from the United Sates\u00a0finally got their chance in the 1920 Games. They were only permitted to compete in one sport: swimming. At the games American Ethelda Bleibtrey<\/strong> took gold in all of the races, while Aileen Riggin<\/strong> won springboard diving in its debut event at just 14 years old. The success of American women in swimming helped\u00a0American female athletes across the board prove they could also compete on the world stage.<\/p>\n

In 1926, fifty one years after Webb completed it for the first time, American\u00a0Gertrude Ederle<\/strong>\u00a0swam\u00a0the English Channel. Not only did she do it successfully, Ederle complete the cross in 14 hours and 31 minutes. That time\u00a0broke the previous record by two hours, making her the fastest person to cross the English channel ever. And, she did it wearing the first two piece bathing suit in public.<\/p>\n

\"gertrude-ederle\"

Photo Courtesy: U.S. Library of Congress<\/p><\/div>\n

Ederle’s crossing is to this day considered the breakthrough moment in women’s athletics. Her feat represented a physical accomplishment where a women not only equated but surpassed men, disproving anti-suffragists everywhere.<\/p>\n

Three weeks after Ederle, another American, Clemington Corson<\/strong>, completed the crossing in fifteen and a half hours, the second fastest time to date.<\/p>\n

Breakthroughs in women’s swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes. Through swimming, these women helped to fundamentally changed the way that women were viewed in public settings, and sexist ideas\u00a0concerning what they\u00a0can do and\u00a0wear.<\/p>\n

These ladies pushed the boundaries of what women were thought to be capable of, and against all odds found success.<\/p>\n

All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Erin Keaveny, Swimming World College Intern Today, swimmers like Katie Ledecky, Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin\u00a0are renowned for their accomplishments as athletes. Parents don’t think twice about whether or<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3481,"featured_media":260165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[62467,62470,60606,62468,62471,57595,62469,4662,60783,50279,25136,1776],"class_list":["post-265535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-agnes-beckwith","tag-aileen-riggin","tag-annette-kellerman","tag-barron-pierre-de-coubertin","tag-clemington-corson","tag-erin-keaveny","tag-ethelda-bleibtrey","tag-gertrude-ederle","tag-katie-ledeckty","tag-matthew-webb","tag-missy-franklin","tag-natalie-coughlin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nHow Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"821\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erin Keaveny\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@erinkevaeny\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Keaveny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erin Keaveny\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e7ba7dee8b4ad706311a1dfcd879bf4f\"},\"headline\":\"How Women’s Swimming Paved The Way For Equality\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Agnes Beckwith\",\"Aileen Riggin\",\"Annette Kellerman\",\"Barron Pierre De Coubertin\",\"Clemington Corson\",\"Erin Keaveny\",\"Ethelda Bleibtrey\",\"Gertrude Ederle\",\"Katie Ledeckty\",\"Matthew Webb\",\"Missy Franklin\",\"Natalie Coughlin\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Commentary\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\",\"name\":\"How Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":821,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: ISHOF\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Women’s Swimming Paved The Way For Equality\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e7ba7dee8b4ad706311a1dfcd879bf4f\",\"name\":\"Erin Keaveny\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abd860f0b0c449a5319284baa9770d59?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abd860f0b0c449a5319284baa9770d59?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Erin Keaveny\"},\"description\":\"Erin Keaveny is a former diver and Villanova alum coaching and working in non-profit development for the Red Sox Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Metro South.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/erinkevaeny\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/erin-keaveny\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality","description":"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality","og_description":"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":821,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erin Keaveny","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@erinkevaeny","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Keaveny","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/"},"author":{"name":"Erin Keaveny","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e7ba7dee8b4ad706311a1dfcd879bf4f"},"headline":"How Women’s Swimming Paved The Way For Equality","datePublished":"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/"},"wordCount":1054,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","keywords":["Agnes Beckwith","Aileen Riggin","Annette Kellerman","Barron Pierre De Coubertin","Clemington Corson","Erin Keaveny","Ethelda Bleibtrey","Gertrude Ederle","Katie Ledeckty","Matthew Webb","Missy Franklin","Natalie Coughlin"],"articleSection":["Commentary"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/","name":"How Women's Swimming Paved The Way For Equality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-11T21:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-11T18:35:49+00:00","description":"Breakthroughs in women's swimming created the perfect storm for much bigger changes.\u00a0Through swimming, these ladies changes the\u00a0way women were\u00a0perceived.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","width":1200,"height":821,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: ISHOF"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-womens-swimming-paved-the-way-for-equality\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Women’s Swimming Paved The Way For Equality"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e7ba7dee8b4ad706311a1dfcd879bf4f","name":"Erin Keaveny","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abd860f0b0c449a5319284baa9770d59?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/abd860f0b0c449a5319284baa9770d59?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Erin Keaveny"},"description":"Erin Keaveny is a former diver and Villanova alum coaching and working in non-profit development for the Red Sox Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Metro South.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/erinkevaeny"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/erin-keaveny\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: ISHOF","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/british-women-relay-1912-e1497131758349.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-174P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3481"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}