Swimming history - flip turns and goggles

Does anyone remember: When were flip turns in free style invented/introduced in competitive swimming? When did goggles become 'standard equipment' for swimmers? Thanks! I think goggles for swimming purposes were first in use way back in the early part of the 20th century. I found an image of Gertrude Ederle of New York who became the first woman to swim the English Channel in 1926. It looks like she was wearing ski goggles, so I'm not sure these count as "swimming" goggles. :) en.wikipedia.org/.../Gertrude_Ederle 1.bp.blogspot.com/.../0806channelswimB.jpg I swam in high school in southern California during the early '70s and no one on my team wore goggles. There were a couple of guys on the men's team that did wear them. I recall they were kind of expensive back then. I had super long hair then, so I always wore a cap (which I still have, by the way -- it's rubber and is close to completely falling apart), but goggles would have been nice.

Dr. Ransom Arthur, USN, used to work out with us at San Diego State ('64, '65) and he wore goggles during workouts. He was a cool guy but no one thought his goggles were cool. Time has proven he was right and we were stupid. And as most of you already know, he later went on to become one of the founders of Masters Swimming. You know, now that you mention it, the cool factor did play a big part in what was worn in the pool when I was in high school. My best friend and I had real Jantzen racing suits, which were the envy of our team. Caps were okay for girls, but you wouldn't catch a guy dead in one. I also remember wearing goggles was like admitting you were afraid to open your eyes underwater. The one guy on the men's team that I recall always wore them, had prescription goggles so he could see where he was going; otherwise, he wouldn't have worn them. I remember hating my red eyes and now I wouldn't dream of swimming (even for fun) without goggles on. :)

The turn rule was changed about 1965 so that you didn't have to touch with your hand first in free.Until then many people didn't flip,especially in the longer distances as the speed difference wasn't worth the air lost.After the rule change everyone flipped in free.I wore black rubber goggles starting in about 1966 in High School.One of the cool guys on the teams tarted wearing them,so it was suddenly OK to wear them.I saw my first pair of goggles like what we wear now in about 1970(if my memory was better I wouldn't have to say" about".)

A tumble turn, or flip turn is a technique of turns in swimming, used to reverse the direction in which they are swimming. It is usually done when the swimmer reaches the end of the swimming pool but still has one or more lengths to swim. The technique's development is credited, by the International Swimming Hall of Fame, to legendary University of Texas swim coach Tex Robertson while he was training Adolph Kiefer for the 1936 Olympics.

Dr. Ransom Arthur, USN, used to work out with us at San Diego State ('64, '65) and he wore goggles during workouts. He was a cool guy but no one thought his goggles were cool. Time has proven he was right and we were stupid. And as most of you already know, he later went on to become one of the founders of Masters Swimming.

THANK YOU ALL for great answers - including bonus info on the odd yard events and breastroke in IM :applaud: I'm researching for a novel, I'm writing, so if any of you have some good swim stories from the late sixties in the US you would like to share ... I'm all ears And ... Why, oh WHY wasn't I born before 2nd world war ... the IM without breaststroke would have been the perfect event for me :D

Not sure about flip turns but I saw my first pair of goggles in 1968. They looked like 2 plastic thimbles held together with a rubber band. A few other historic swimming oddities. We used to swim 220 and 440 yard races to equate to 200 and 400 meter distances- finishing in the middle of the pool. That ended in the early 60s. Breaststroke was added to the IM in 1958. Up till then it was fly back free only.

1967, I tried some new goggles, but they were not to stay on no matter what I tried. I was doing flips in 1959, so before that.

In the 50s & early 60s, they had some sort of smelly, milky looking substance in a gutter at the pool access you had to dip your feet in on the way in! Probably a health department regulation left over from pre-antibiotic days, before they discovered germs! I think the pool was lined with white ceramic tiles. In those days, before I had contact lenses, I couldn't see a thing underwater. If I tried to race, it wasn't unusual for me to suddenly pull a right turn right into the wall! Contacts opened up a new underwater world for me at 21. The flesh colored nose clips with the neck strap were sometimes used, although I never tried one. The way they trained life guards in the 60s didn't have much to do with safety and prevention as today. One of the requirements, they would grease down a 200lb guy with petrolium jelly and he would jump in the deep well. You had to get to him as he lunged at you and put a cross chest bear hug on him. Both arms locked around him while he thrashed around and pulled you under like a mad tuna! If you were able to hang on for a couple minutes you passed! There were no rescue tubes then either. :chug: Good luck with your writting.

Bill Yorzyk wore diving goggles in 1954. I remember seeing him workout with them on in Meiji Pool in Tokyo. We were on a trip with Ford Konno, George Breen, Bill and myself. Those goggles were huge, like a facemask.