Actually, swimming and show business have a long history dating to Mathew Webb in the 1870s. Webb was famous for becoming the first person to swim across the English Channel. He toured the American vaudeville circuit demonstrating his famous stroke in a glass tank. Annette Kellerman was a star performer with her swimming and diving show in a glass tank in New York's Hippodrome Theater in the early twentieth century.

The Billy Rose Aquacade (pictured), featuring the swimming of Olympic champions Johnny Weissmuller and Eleanor Holm, was the hit of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Performing three shows a day, in a specially constructed aquatic arena seating 11,000 spectators, Rose sold nearly five million tickets. In addition to swimming, synchronized swimming, comedy and Olympic diving, the Rose shows included singing by popular stars and spectacular dance routines. Rose imitators and the films of Weissmuller as Tarzan and those of Esther Williams helped create the demand for the back yard pool and spa building explosion that began in the 1950s.

Today, one of the most popular shows in Las Vegas is Circque de Soleil's “O” show. If the swimming industry can build the bridge between the entertainment, recreation and competitive components, we may be on the verge of a new explosion of popular interest in swimming.