Mermaids & Mermen Capitola Swimming Competitions in the 1920s

By Deborah Osterberg

When oil entrepreneur Henry Allen Rispin bought much of Capitola in 1919, he set about modernizing the resort town. To ensure the success of his large investment, Rispin needed to attract tourists and prospective land buyers.

In January 1920, the San Francisco Examiner described Rispin as “the leading spirit of the new enterprise” in Capitola to host major swimming races that summer.

The 1920s were an age of exuberance. Contests and record-breaking feats of all sorts garnered a great deal of media attention, from dance marathons to flagpole sitting.

From his youthful days as a theater promoter, Rispin was well aware of the lure of spectacle. He also recognized the latest athletic craze, competitive swimming. Since the reintroduction of the Olympics in 1896, and the establishment of the first worldwide swimming association in 1908, the sport of swimming grew rapidly in popularity during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Capitola’s pristine ocean shoreline, protected lagoon, and Soquel Creek were the ideal setting for competitive swim races.

The first major swimming event in Capitola was the men’s one-mile roughwater ocean race on July 11, 1920. The race was for the Pacific Coast title sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Union (A.A.U.). Swimmers who were unable to attend the Olympic trials in Chicago came to Capitola for the rough water mile championship.

Out of a field of twelve, the winner was James Carson of the Olympic Club of San Francisco. Carson, who swam the course in 22 minutes and 12 seconds, and won by twenty yards over his closest competitor, came within seven seconds of beating the world’s mile swimming record.

In the early 20th century, not only was swimming rising in popularity, but also becoming recognized as a competitive sport appropriate for women.

The first worldwide swim competition for women took place in Scotland in 1892. In 1912 women’s swimming finally became an Olympic event.

An important contributor to this change was the change in women’s bathing costumes.

Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman, noted in the early 1900s for her athletic ability and advocacy of swimming for health, became both famous and infamous for designing a one-piece women’s swimsuit.

She discarded the bulky Victorian swim dress with bloomers, for a fulllength, form fitting design allowing for fuller movement.

Her swimsuit was originally considered indecent, even getting her arrested for wearing one on a Massachusetts beach in 1907.

By the 1920s, a Kellerman-inspired, stockingless, slimmer one-piece swimsuit became the standard for women and finally made competitive swimming a reality for women athletes.

On Sept. 19, 1920, Capitola hosted the A.A.U.-sanctioned Pacific Coast mile swimming championship for women.