Continental bathing

When nineteenth century British ideas of respectability demanded men and women bathe separately at seaside resorts, French seaside resorts allowed men and women wearing bathing costumes to bathe together. English tourists therefore referred to this style of mixed baths as 'continental bathing'.

Mixed or 'continental' bathing was accepted and recommended at the NSW surf beaches as a safety measure by 1912, but at many ocean baths segregated bathing continued into the 1930s. Baths with nineteenth century traditions of segregated bathing were slow to move to continental bathing.

McIvers Baths in Sydney is now the only NSW ocean baths that is not 'continental'. It is still reserved for women and children.

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