Aeroplane Swimming

From the amazing collection of old photos at Shorpy, here's an activity from 1910 way cooler than anything I had when I was in high school:

AEROPLANE SWIM IS LATEST FREAK

Girl Flies Through Air, Shakes “Wings” and Plunges Into Pool

PITTSBURG, Feb. 8 — The pupils of the Sixth Ward public school, North Side, are learning at one and the same time to imitate the bird and the fish — an art which they name “aeroplane swimming.” They have long enjoyed a fine swimming pool and their instructor, Professor Walter Shook, has adopted the use of small biplanes in the course.

Sara Harzberger, a 14-year-old pupil in the school, yesterday demonstrated the new game by gliding from a high balcony by means of the biplane, and as she reached the pool she shook her “wings,” turned a somersault and dived into the water. Professor Shook hopes next summer to take his human fish-birds out to the rivers and ponds to glide from high boats, bridges and banks.

The sport was suggested by a student at the Carnegie Technical school, and those who have tried it say it is a thousand times more thrilling than the ordinary dive and can be made safely at almost any reasonable height.