18th and 19th centuries c.1800. Several bathing machines can be seen. in the 1840s and woman's swimwear style of Germany, 1893 With Buchan's recommendations, people suddenly flocked to the coasts, especially to Great Britain and France. The public and authorities were concerned with the morality of general sea bathing.
Scarborough was the first resort to introduce
bathing machines, with a John Setterington engraving showing machines in 1735. They were soon adopted in most of the aspiring English seaside resorts. Women would wear "bathing gowns" in the water while the men would wear long swimsuits. Some resorts such as
Margate had modesty hoods or tilts which were canvas awnings attached to
bathing machines. These could be let down to allow a woman to enter and leave the water in privacy. If desired, the woman could also be dipped in privacy under the shelter of the hood. By the end of the 18th century, sea bathing became highly fashionable with
George III visiting
Weymouth for the first time with the bathing machines showing
God Save the King.
Fanny Burney recorded a humorous incident in her diaries. :"Nor is this all. Think but of the surprise of His Majesty when, the first time of his bathing, he had no sooner popped his royal head under water than a band of music, concealed in a neighbouring machine, struck up "God save great George our King". During this period,
resorts sprang up along the English
coast, such as Weymouth,
Bournemouth,
Blackpool and Scarborough. In 1771,
Tobias Smollett recorded the use of bathing machines in
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker.
Jane Austen regularly visited seaside resorts and in her uncompleted novel
Sanditon stated "The
Sea air and Sea Bathing together were nearly infallible, one or the other of them being a match for every Disorder..." The invention of the
railway, and the proliferation of rail travel in the mid-19th century made it possible for large numbers of people to visit coastal regions. The railways, seaside towns and resorts promoted the purported health benefits of sea water; and resort towns grew enormously. Resorts were set up throughout Europe in the late 18th century and early 19th century as far north as Scandinavia. In the United States, resorts such as
Atlantic City became very popular while the
French Riviera became popular not only amongst the French but with English visitors. Dippers or guides were used with the bathing machines and they escorted visitors into the water. and
mixed bathing was permitted from the 1940s. Restrictions on swimsuits also eased over time, with the designation of some beaches as
topless and others as
nude. As public bathing became more popular, more inexperienced swimmers going out into unfamiliar waters put themselves at risk. In the US,
lifeguards were often paid employees of local governments employed when bathing was most popular. In Australia, the Surf Bathing Association of NSW formed in 1907 to coordinate voluntary
surf lifesaving on beaches throughout Sydney. This organisation became the
Surf Lifesaving Association of Australia in 1923. The Association proved its worth on February 6, 1938, on
Bondi Beach when hundreds of bathers were saved when they were taken out to sea in a freak rip on what became known as Black Sunday. Lifesaving organisations also started in other countries – such as Canada and the United Kingdom. As a result of the development of such organisations, lifesaving techniques became standardised and competitions between competing clubs were established and have become popular. ==Swimwear==