Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
The New York Clipper was a weekly entertainment newspaper published in New York City from 1853 to 1924. It covered many topics, including circuses, dance, music, the outdoors, sports, theater, and the personalities of the open water swimming world. It had a circulation of about 25,000. The publishers also produced the yearly New York Clipper Annual.
In 1924, The Clipper was absorbed into the entertainment journal Variety.
The 1889 New York Clipper Annual posted the following notes on open wàter swimming community. It was an interesting, and most definitely a different, era of open water swimming:
February 13th: Steve Brodie [shown above] paddled and floated down the East River from Ninetieth Street to the Battery in a rubber lifesaving suit – New York City
March 31st: Swimming race, 204 meters, 5 turns, amateur championship of Vienna; H.T. Braun won; 3 minutes 19 seconds – Vienna, Austria
April 20th: Steve Brodie paddled and floated down the Harlem and East Rivers from Harlem Bridge to the Battery, clad in Paul Boyton rubber suit; 2 hours 40 minutes – New York City
April 30th: Swimming race, obstacle, 68 meters; H. T. Braun won – Diana Bath, Vienna, Austria
August 20th: Miss Annie Johnson remained under water in a tank, 3 minutes 10 seconds beating record for females – London, England
August 25th: Carlisle D. Graham went through Niagara rapids in a barrel – Niagara River, New York
September 7th: A. Meffert, amateur, swam a mile against time, 110 yards stretch in 32 minutes 56 seconds, creating new records at all distances above 110 yards – Locust Grove, Long Island
September 21st: Miss Marie Finney, 17 years, dove from parapet of LondonBridge into the Thamses – England
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