Rectangular swimming pools origins go back to the Napoleonic wars

A newly published book exploring the history of swimming explains how the rectangular shape of swimming pools has its origins in the Napoleonic period.

In his book, Strokes of Genius, historian Eric Chaline talks about how the shape of pools influenced the development of swimming as a sport with their shape mirroring the dimensions of a military parade ground.

Eric Chaline, who explores the history of swimming in his book Strokes of Genius, says the public swimming pools of the last 100 or so years

Chaline told the ABC "in 1806 Napoleon smashes the armies of Prussia, which was the other main military power in Europe, and that triggers a movement in Germany for a renewal of the Germanic race.”

A German nationalist, Friedrich Jahn, opened the first open-air exercise field, to strengthen German conscripts.

It was land-based exercise, but Chaline says it was part of a wider movement that redefined physical education - and it included swimming.

Despite the proliferation of bridges, military strategists were aware that there were still "occasions where you might have had to swim across a river or water to gain military advantage".

The first swimming pools, built for the training of the military, imitated the barrack square, with its right angles and straight lines.

Chaline adds "that's the reason we have rectangular pools.”

Public baths introduced later in the 19th century went on to adopt the model more generally, Chaline says, and the rectangular shape became the standard.

Chaline's interest in the history of swimming stretches far beyond the days of Napoleon.

In his book, he describes humans as "terrestrial refugees on an aquatic world".

He's referencing a highly contested scientific theory - the 'aquatic ape' hypothesis - that he says offers a plausible explanation for why we walk upright and are largely hairless.

Commonly accepted theories of evolution suggest humans developed bipedalism (movement on two legs) to stand upright and better identify predators ahead.

But Chaline says swimming played a key role in shaping who we are today.

He believes that before we evolved from great apes to humans, "there would've been an aquatic phase of some kind where we spent a lot of time in the water", advising “we didn't become mermaids and mermen, but we spent enough time for physical adaptations to take place.”

There are several arguments to support the theory.

One is that a quadruped ape taking its first steps in water would be buoyed up, with the ape stabilising itself by its arms, which could explain the development of bipedalism.

Another is that humans share significant traits with aquatic animals, such as hairlessness and subcutaneous fat (something no other apes have).

He adds that there's also our salty tears, which could be "ascribed to a need to regulate our salt balance, because we spent so much time in seawater.”

Finally, he says newborn babies' ability to automatically hold their breath and move their limbs underwater, "as if swimming", is another factor in support of the aquatic ape hypothesis.

And, though the scientific establishment has largely rejected the theory, Chaline has a powerful voice on his side.

Broadcaster and natural historian Sir David Attenborough also backs the hypothesis, which was most notably put forward by Elaine Morgan in the 1970s.

Chaline’s book also suggests the reasons why the Ancient Greeks didn’t include swimming in the Olympics.

He explained that the while the swimming was pastime among wealthy and more-educated Ancient Greeks it was not included in the Games “because it was considered to be a working skill, rather than an athletic skill.”

For the Greeks, surrounded by sea, swimming was important for warfare and for salvaging sunken vessels.

It was also an important military skill for the Roman army but as bridge and boat technology advanced, the need for people to learn to swim declined.

The practice was also sidelined by a more relaxing pool activity favoured by Romans: bathing.

Chaline advised "(the skill of swimming) was gradually lost because of the incredible bathing culture they had.

"They had very large pools that were shallow. They weren't for swimming, they were sitting around and chatting with your mates and relaxing."

Swimming also fell out of favour for religious reasons.

In the ancient world, sea gods like Poseidon "established a bridge between humanity and the element of the water", Chaline commented.

But these disappeared with the arrival of Christianity, he says, "which is born in the desert and the mountains".

The only figure that endured into Christianity is the mermaid, which has an ambiguous and "not particularly positive" status in Christian theology, says Chaline, adding “the mermaid is soulless; an alluring female that lures men to their doom by drowning.

"So I think there's a lack of need to swim, and also a growing fear and disconnection and alienation from the water."

It's a sentiment that persisted; it was a long time before swimming became a competitive sport, with Chaline concluding “(that) is really less than 200 years old.”

Click here for more information on Strokes of Genius, published by Reaktion Boobs.

Main image shows the Sunshine Coast Grammar School  Aquatic Centre.