Sharks Swim Club: Iowa Time Machine January 18, 1926

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 18, 1926, the Des Moines Roosevelt Sharks Swim Club first appeared in a Des Moines area newspaper. In an era when women's athletic opportunities remained severely restricted, a group of young women at Roosevelt High School created their own space to compete, perform, and excel through the creation of a synchronized swimming tradition that endures today.

During the 1920s, high schools and colleges typically limited girls to just six sports: hiking, field hockey, swimming, basketball, tennis, and track. Even then, institutions often favored "play days" over competitive events, mixing teams from different schools to discourage rivalry and preserve feminine cooperation. Opening in 1923, Roosevelt High School was designed to serve the growing population on the west side of Des Moines, and the Gothic school was nicknamed “The Million Dollar School" for its unprecedented construction cost.

In 1926, a group of female students formed the first athletic club at their school that women could join. Just months after 37 states began sponsoring high school varsity games and tournaments for women's basketball, and during the same year the Amateur Athletic Union sanctioned its first women's basketball national tournament, the Sharks chose synchronized swimming. From its inception, the Sharks operated as a student-led organization where young women choreographed their own routines, managed their own rehearsals, and organized their own annual pageants.

A century after that first newspaper mention, the Roosevelt Sharks remain the oldest synchronized swimming club in the nation. The program continues to thrive at Roosevelt High School, maintaining its tradition of student leadership where seniors cut music, design choreography, and train younger swimmers. #Iowa #OTD #History #Swimming #SynchronizedSwimming