Handbill for Port Adelaide Amateur Swimming Club Illuminated Swimming Pool
South Australian Maritime Museum
Port Adelaide, Australia
Advertisement promoting the Port Adelaide Amateur Swimming Club (PAASC) and Illuminated Swimming Pool. Club facilities included Electric Light and Showers installed throughout, Diving Tower and Spring Board.
The handbill is representative of the popularity of recreational swimming in the Port Adelaide area in the early 20th century. Several clubs used docks on the Port River for training and race meets, producing some of the most accomplished swimmers in the state. Instructors in the Portland Canal taught swimming by wrapping children in a canvas belt with a rope attached, suspending them from a pole. They gradually released the weight off the rope as their charges gained confidence in the water. By the 1930s the Port Adelaide Club moved premises to a purpose built pool on Swan Terrace, Semaphore South.
- Title: Handbill for Port Adelaide Amateur Swimming Club Illuminated Swimming Pool
- Provenance: The Port Adelaide Amateur Swimming Club was established in 1909 on the Portland Canal (Port River). Instructors taught swimming by wrapping children in a canvas belt with a rope attached and suspending them from a pole. They gradually released the weight off the rope as their charges gained confidence in the water. By the 1930s the Port Adelaide Club moved premises to a purpose built pool on Swan Terrace, Semaphore South. JS Morton, the donor's father, was the Secretary of the Club.
- Subject Keywords: Sport, swimming
- Rights: History Trust of South Australia, CC-0, photographer: Kylie Macey
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