Matt Rota for The American Scholar

"Just When You Thought It Wasn’t Safe …", Matt Rota (portfolio here) illustrates an article about Wilbert Longfellow, whose motto was to “educate them gently while entertaining them hugely”. At a time when the drowning rate in the USA was terribly high, and believing that the best way to interest the public in swimming was to put on a good show, Longfellow came up with an "Aquatic Theatre".

Read this interesting article by Vicki Valosik on The American Scholar here.

#illustration #swimming #longfellow #AmericanHistory #history #editorial #sport #aquatictheatre #WilbertLongfellow #watercolor #inkandwatercolor