Downstream

‘aquatic jockeys’ raced twice
across the Thames near
Battersea, naked. The one-
mile amateur championships
began in 1869, from Putney
to Hammersmith, while in
1877 the Lords and
Commons race, the long-
distance amateur
championships of Great
Britain, went from Putney to
Westminster. Endurance
swimmers also used it as their
training ground, including