Flashback Friday - Part 3 of Swimming Jargon Used in Central Pennsylvania - 'mermen'

Several years of blogging have occurred at the Jersey Shore Swim blog with over 1000 stories and articles posted.  With that in mind, the Jersey Shore Swim blog will occasionally pull out an occasional favorite or interesting item from the archives to share with readers (plus some interesting old stuff never posted) in a series called Flashback Friday.

• Part 1 of Swimming Jargon Used in Central Pennsylvania - 'thumb jerkers' and 'thumbers' here
• Part 2 of Swimming Jargon Used in Central Pennsylvania - 'tankers' here

As swimming was becoming more of a popular sport, colleges and universities were adding the activity to their list of varsity offerings.  Male athletes that participated in local competitive swimming at the time were called 'mermen'.  Below is a Lock Haven Express clipping from November 18, 1935 using the term 'mermen' for Penn State swimmers.

Lock Haven University (then called the Lock Haven Teachers College) also used the term 'mermen' below in a Lock Haven Express February 5, 1951 edition.