Naiad Agnes Plunged Women Into Spectator Sports 100 Years Ago

Agnes' role was much more artistic. Clad in flesh-colored tights and a very d�collet� bodice, she walked in the water with her hands above her head and performed a routine known as "the prayer" by swimming with her feet while holding her hands clasped above her head. "This style of swimming," remarked the Times, "is recommended for steamboat collisions and ocean wrecks, as it gives one an opportunity to pray for help while he or she paddles shoreward."

Later that month Agnes decided to crown her American visit with an exhibition of endurance swimming from Sandy Hook, N.J. to Rockaway Beach, N.Y. , a distance of about 20 miles. The swim began shortly before 9 a.m. on June 30, 1883, Agnes emerging from the cabin of the steam launch Bonnie Doon and diving overboard. The steamer Sylvester soon appeared on the scene loaded with 300 excursionists as well as a fife and drum corps.

For a while all went well. Swimming at 24 strokes per minute, Agnes made steady progress until 11:30, when she paused to drink a cup of beef tea. About noon, the wind picked up and dark clouds ominously appeared. "Half an hour later, they burst, amid thunder and lightning, and poured torrents of rain upon her, as well as upon a dozen of seasick men who were distributed in attitudes of distress about the deck of the launch," reported The New York Sun .

After struggling for an hour without making noticeable headway, Agnes relaxed to await a change in the conditions. But the storm continued. Much against her will, she was taken from the water shortly before two o'clock.

"This is a swindle," she said angrily, accusing the pilot of the launch of not knowing the tides. Swimming with the sea instead of against it would have been a simple task even in the stormy weather, she maintained. As it was, she had made three-quarters of the distance before having to board the boat, a feat that New Yorkers accepted with appreciation and generosity.

Agnes Beckwith slipped into obscurity soon afterward, but she had demonstrated that participation in spectator sports need not be the monopoly of men.