Swimming Pool

[Mona Parks]

Does any know the name of the swimming instructor on Titanic? Col. Gracie mentions him in his book, but not by name.

 

[David G. Brown]

Mona -- you are asking a very serious question that deserves an answer. (I don't know.) However, reading the headline for your post gave me a real chuckle.

-- David G. Brown

 

[Mona Parks]

David, You know what? It actually took me a minute to catch on to what you were talking about. It was kinda funny . Thanks for pointing it out. Mona

 

[Michael H. Standart]

FWIW, I parsed the crew list here on ET to see if I could find the name of the chap who held this position. I came up goose eggs...unless the bath stewards were the one responsible for the pool. If this is the case, then there are several names on the list which would be candidates for the man Walter Lord was talking about.

Cordially,
Michael H. Standart

 

[Mona Parks]

Michael, That was what I originally thought, but Gracie said "He", and "instructor". But you could still be right Michael. Gracie may not have known it was the responsibility of more than one person. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Chris Dohany]

I believe Gracie was referring to the Raquet Court Instructor, Frederick Wright.

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Mona, Chris, I have looked at Gracie. On page 6 he talks about the racquet professional, F. Wright. On page 7 he mentions the swimming pool attendant; not "instructor". He also refers to the gymnasium instuctor, T.W. McCawley.

In looking at the list of Crew and their duties as listed in the U.S. Senate Report No 806; we have: Wright, F: Racquet-court attendant; and McCawley, T.W: Gymnasium.

As noted by Michael there is no Crew member listed for the Swimming Pool. But as an attendant "not an instructor" the man Gracie referred to may have just been a bath attendant or steward who handed out the towels.

Lester

 

[Dave Gittins]

I suspect Lester is right. The pool was so small that swimming instruction would have hardly been practical. It's often referred to as a 'bath', which is more realistic.

 

[Ben Holme]

Perhaps "attending" the swimming pool was among the (no doubt many) duties of the Turkish Bath attendants. The pool and the TB were very much in the same locality of F-deck. The gentleman to whom Gracie referred could, therefore, have been one of the following; J.B. Crosbie, Walter Ennis or Leonard Taylor.

Ben

 

[Ben Holme]

Sorry people, the above point has been made twice before! Slight oversight there. Those are the names anyway.

 

[Charmaine Sia]

David,

Your point is really quite cute and gave me a chuckle! I guess the irony comes in when you think of the significance of a situation like that...

Charmaine

 

[Chris Dohany]

Ah ha, I had never noticed Gracie's mention of the swimming bath attendant. For what it's worth, I'd agree that it was probably one of the Turkish Bath Attendants, perhaps Taylor, as he was the least paid.

The regular "bath stewards" (such as Rule and Widgery) had charge of the various bathrooms in 1st and 2nd class; I've never heard of one of them being tallied off for the swimming bath, but that’s certainly a possibility.

 

[Mona Parks]

David,Michael,Lester,Dave,Ben,&Chris, Thanks for all the input. What would I do without you guys? Many,many thanks Mona

 

[Chris Bailey]

Hi everyone

I was just looking for some more information about the Titanic swimming pool. I've already search the message board but haven't found very much at all.

I was surprised to hear that the Titanic had a swimming pool, as I'd never heard it mentioned anywhere (my earliest Titanic knowledge came from a computer game and the film). I was surprised that despite the Titanic being one of the first ships to have a pool, it is rarely mentioned (it would have been a great shot to include in the film!)

Does anybody have any more information about the pool - which deck it was on, which classes could use it (presumably only first class?)

Thanks, Chris.

 

[Matt Smith]

Well Chris,

Its was on F-Deck and as far as I know only 1st class could use it. It was a salt water pool that was heated. If you look around you can find pictures and much more info.

Hope this helps
Matt

P.S. Ya, it would have made a great part in the film.