Downstream

Yet, while some of these
swimmers’ exploits have
gone down in history, for
others their adventures have
been wiped out, especially the
women. It’s a common belief
that in Victorian times
women rarely swam, at least
competitively. But they did,
and their venue of choice was
often the Thames, where men
proved their ‘manliness’ and
women proved not only that
they could swim but that they