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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Chevy Chase: 1925

May 30, 1925. Chevy Chase, Maryland. "Miss Florence Skadding and H.J. McMullan. Opening of new pool at Columbia Country Club." View full size.

May 30, 1925. Chevy Chase, Maryland. "Miss Florence Skadding and H.J. McMullan. Opening of new pool at Columbia Country Club." View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Specialist

I understand Mr McMullen specialized in the breaststroke.

In the background

The three fellows to the right look familiar; did they go on to a career in film?

The Fleshtones

A little color added for Anything Goes. I remember older cousins and others wearing knickers, always dark blue, black or brown. The socks were subdued hues.

I could not find a color picture of the Washington Canoe Club, so I chose red for the canoe to contrast with the blue swimsuit and white W.

The Navy was still issuing blue wool swimsuits in the mid-1950's. These wet suits were added weight when passing your swimming test in boot camp.

In mourning?

Does the black band sewn across our handsome hero's "W" (for Wesleyan?) have some sort of significance? Many sporting events have players whose makeshift black bands pay homage to the passing of a former coach or player...or maybe that's just how H.J.'s team sewed their uniforms?

[Our hero is in rowing. The "black band" is a canoe, signifying the Washington Canoe Club. - Dave]

Covers and Reveals

Bring back the wool swimsuit!

I normally don't but...

Her figure is ridiculously hot.

Crema solar?

Creo que la gama de grises ha convertido los brillos en un blanco que parece crema de protección solar. El chaval de los calcetines a rayas también parece embadurnado.

[Es moho. Moho mal! - Dave]

Life Saver Florence

Here are the graphics from a short Sept. 1927 wire story filler about Florence. Interesting that in the cartoons she is decidedly less buoyant.

Biting my tongue!

This photo just begs for ribald commentary but, with a sense of common decency, I will but say that Miss Skadding is not hiding her lights under a bushel. Nosiree.

Florence

Ms. Skadding was featured often in the Post and in various wire service accounts of her aquatic activities. She excelled in swimming, diving, aquaplaning (like water skiing, but with one big board) and later taught swimming and led others from the Red Cross's national office.

My Dad's Terms

My father, who was 21 years old at the time of this picture, would have characterized Miss Skadding as being a "healthy woman."

Quite a Pair

Aren't they?

Hero McMullan

Just two weeks after this photo was made, Harold McMullan saved a man from drowning.

Washington Post, June 14, 1925.

CANOE CLUB SWIMMERS
SAVE A LIFE BY RACING

W.R. Donigan Rescued From
Drowning by 3 Members
Who Hear His Cry.

The three crack swimmers of the Washington Canoe Club indulged in a race yesterday — a race against death. And they won.

The trio — Karl Knight, Farnam Miller and H.J. McMullan — were standing on the club float about 6:30 o'clock last evening, attired in their white ducks and ready to paddle about in their canoes, when a cry for help was heard. It came from W.R. Donigan, a club member who had been stricken by cramps while swimming about 50 yards from the float.

Whereupon the trio plunged into the water and the most spectacular race in the canoe club's history was on. Three fast-moving swimmers were cutting down the distance separating them from where Donigan had gone down. Nobody thought to use a stopwatch, but it is said that a record was hung up.

Reaching the spot where Donigan had sunk, the three men dived beneath the water. For what seemed about a minute, none came up.

Then two heads appeared above the waters of the Potomac. One was Donigan and the other was that of McMullan, who had seized Donigan and was bringing him in. When they arrived at the float, eager hands pulled Donigan ashore, and after a few minutes of resuscitative work he was fully revived.

"With so much swimming talent around, Donigan really didn't have a chance to drown," said one club member last night.

McMullan's record for the day was one race lost and one race won. Earlier in the day he had finished second in a 90-yard aquatic dash in the Wardman Park pool. His victory was his rescue of Donigan. In saving Donigan, however, McMullan lost the silver medal that had been awarded him for second place in the Wardman Park swimming event.

Donigan is a well-known distance runner. In the Washington Post marathon last winter he finished third. He ran under the colors of George Washington University, enrolling from West Virginia Wesleyan.

Karl Knight, one of the trio who responded to Donigan's cries for help, is not only a crack swimmer but a champion canoeist. He was a member of the Washington Canoe Club four which won the championship at the last Olympic games.

Anything goes!

What an attractive couple. And the clothes in the background are amazing -- the socks with the knickers are striking, I wonder what the colors are. Plus, everyone else looks rather chilly and overdressed.

Pint Size Pugilist

The kid on the right looks like he's ready to go a couple of rounds.

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