India had stepwells and temple tanks, the most beautiful version of swimming pools, from many centuries ago, where people bathed, swam and did their rituals.
And there was the super-impressive 40-ft-by-23-ft-and-8-ft-deep Mohenjodaro Great Bath, that long predated stepwells and their ilk, from 3rd century BC -- said to be the oldest public bath in the world.
But when did India get its first few formal western-style pools? The pic above, of Krishna watching the Gopis in a garden pool, by the Bijapur branch of the Deccan School of Painting, circa 1650, indicated ancient pools were pretty rectangular and 19th century-looking too.
But the British started the first swimming clubs and built some of the first 'modern' pools in Britain, India and rest of Asia. Given the Brits' love for style & class, the first swimming clubs, in Britain, were fancy affairs. Aquatic breakfasts were held on rafts with coffee boiled over a fire. The trend slowly converted bathers into swimmers.
Founded in 1876, the Breach Candy Swimming Bath Trust, at 66 Bhulabhai Desai Marg in south Bombay, is a salt water pool looking out to sea. Built by enclosing in a bit of the coastline and therefore lacks a rectangular shape, it was begun by Europeans and was once off limits to Indians. It is now an aquatic centre with an enviable location that endures almost 150 years after it was established.
Another British era pool and social club too, Calcutta Swimming Bath opened in 1887 on Strand road in colonial Bengal. Initially catering only to whites and men (women joined in the 1920s and 'mixed' bathing happened from then too, once a week), it later was accessible to all.
The earliest swimming association to be established in Kolkata, it started up in 1927 at Goldighi, facing University of Calcutta, by a passionate team of sports lovers from Kolkata, under the leadership of Pramoth Nath Ghosh, the club's secretary. In its early years maharajas, Indian biz families, judges were members. CSSC sent its first swimmer to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics -- Dwarka Das Mulji.
Established in 1942 at the YMCA College of Physical Education in Nandanam, Chennai, the 25-metre pool was built during the tenure of the institution’s founder, American collegiate-level sports coach Harry Crowe Buck, called India's Father of Physical Education and one of the first movers of the Indian Olympic Association. It is said to be the city's first swimming pool.
Constructed in 1947, the Marina Swimming Pool is located opposite Presidency College in Chennai. Spanning 100 m in length and 34 m in width, it is larger than a standard Olympic pool. Maintained by the Corporation of Chennai, the pool has undergone several renovations and remains a popular spot for swimmers.
In the 1950s, Andhra University in Visakhapatnam became the first university in India to have a swimming pool on its premises. Located near the old post office, the pool was operational until 1962, after which it was drained and fell into disuse.
Built in 1952, the aquatic centre came under the care of the Greater Mumbai civic body by 1955 in Dadar. A major five-year overhaul commenced in 2006. On October 2, 2011, a newly-modernised venue with four distinct sections -- competition, diving, warm-up, and kids’ pools -- was officially opened to the public.
Located on Mother Teresa Crescent, earlier Willingdon Crescent, Talkatora Gardens dates back to the Mughal era. The name Talkatora combines tal or tank and katora or bowl, referring to its original use as a tank and swimming pool. The pool disappeared after the Maratha invasion of Delhi, when the Maratha army camped here in the 18th century. The gardens got its pool back in 1982 during the Asian Games.
One of the oldest hotel pools in the country is the pool at beachfront Sun-n-Sand in Juhu, northwest Mumbai. It was the first hotel in Bombay to get a pool in 1962 and gain five star status, somewhat before the Taj that only got a pool apparently later in the '60s.