SPLASHBACK A number of families have shown star- tling aquatic skills, but one clan in particu- lar made waves—and a good living—for half a century in the family business of swimming. It all started in the lat- ter half of the 19th centu- ry when London-born Frederick Cavill (1839– 1927), a self-proclaimed “professor” of swimming, began earning headlines by saving lives and pio- neering big swims in wild locations. After retiring from the Royal Navy in the early 1870s, Cavill opened a school to teach swimming lessons and claimed Princess Mary (lat- er Queen Mary) among his clients. Cavill also reveled in endurance challenges and the decidedly Victorian vogue of demonstration swimming. In 1876, he swam more than 20 miles down the River Thames, from London Bridge to Greenhithe. The following month, Cavill swam some 16 miles from Dover to Ramsgate, two towns bordering the English Channel. Apparently, those were just training swims in support of his real goal—a channel crossing. Crossing the English Channel, the Sport Australia Hall of Fame reports, had begun “to obsess Cavill after Captain Matthew Webb swam it in 1875.” So, in Au- gust 1876, Cavil made his own attempt but was pulled from the water about 3 miles shy of his destination. On a second at- tempt, in 1877, Cavill reached a location mere yards off the En- glish coast in about 12 hours. But because they were approach- ing in the dark of night, Cavill’s boat pilot refused to land for fear of wrecking his lugger on unseen boulders, and Cavill was pulled from the water. Dawn’s early light brought the frustrat- ing realization of just how close he’d come to being the second person to swim the channel. The near miss propelled Cavill to the other side of the world, as he immigrated to Sydney in 1879. There, his family would become so integral to propagating the development of swimming in the country that they would eventually be known as the “first family of Australian swimming.” Each of Cavill’s six sons achieved a measure of success and fame in the sport. • Ernest Cavill (1868–1935): Ernest’s swimming interests eventually led him to South Africa, “where his natatorial feats are worthily upholding the family reputation,” the South Aus- tralian Register reported in February 1899. • Charles Cavill (1870–1897): Charles became the first man to swim the Golden Gate in California, a 1.5-mile-wide choke- point between San Francisco and the Marin Headlands. Trag- ically, he died while executing an underwater endurance stunt in Stockton, Calif. • Percy Cavill (1875–1940): Percy held “the enviable distinc- tion of being the champion swimmer of the world, having de- fended the title against all comers, and under all sorts of con- ditions,” according to an 1899 edition of the South Australian Register. He disappeared at one point but was found in 1930 by a woman who’d crash landed on a Bahamian island where he was “living as a beachcomber and doing a little rum-run- ning,” the International Swimming Hall of Fame reports. • Arthur “Channel” Cavill (1877–1914): Nicknamed “Tums” because he sucked his thumbs as a kid, Arthur was born the same night his dad was making his second attempt to swim the English Channel (on the second anniversary of Webb’s cross- ing), hence his other moniker “Channel.” Arthur was credited with developing the so-called Australian crawl, better known today as the freestyle. (The Sport Australia Hall of Fame adds nuance, noting that “while it was islander Alick Wickham who introduced the crawl stroke, it was [Frederick] Cavill and his family who refined it, spread it through Australia and the world, and caused it to re-write all the record books.”) Also a stunt swimmer, Arthur met an untimely end at the hands of hy- pothermia while attempting a swim across Seattle Harbor. • Sydney Cavill (1881–1945): Some say “Sid” invented but- terfly. He was a champion over shorter distances, claiming numerous titles in the 220-yard and 100-yard events in Aus- tralia and the U.K. He’s perhaps best known for his years coaching at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. • Richmond Cavill (1884–1938): Nicknamed “Dick,” Rich- mond was reported to be the first person to use the crawl in competition, which in 1902 helped him become the first per- son to break the minute barrier in a 100-yard event. Dick toured America as Father Neptune in a stage act but died of a heart attack during a swimming demonstration. An 1899 edition of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reported on the scope of the family’s international rock-star status: “The fame of this gifted aquatic family has spread to all parts of the civilised world; its members have measured skill with the best in Great Britain, on the Continent, in America, and throughout Australasia, and include among them not less than four champions, one of whom, Percy, is even now in England en- deavoring to arrange matches with the Old World cracks, while Ernest has been in South Africa for some time, and ‘Sid’ has just returned after a nonpareil tour through the United States.” More than 200 people watched the demonstration that day, which was in large part carried by Frederick’s three daughters, Madeline, Alice, and Freda. Frederick’s sons have received far more accolades than his daugh- ters, but his daughters were accomplished swimmers and instructors too. Freda coached her son, Richmond “Dick” Cavill Eve, to a gold medal in diving in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games.—ELAINE K. HOWLEY The Cavills’ aquatic skills made them world-famous The First Family of Australian Swimming National Library of Australia The Cavill family, led by Frederick Cavill, set a high bar for global swimming fame. 48 usms.org