Aquatots

The Aquatots was the name given to American children Russell "Bubba" Tongay and his sister Kathy Tongay due to their ability to complete daring swimming feats at a very young age during the early 1950s. He was 7 years old and she was 6 when Kathy was killed by her father in 1953. Beginning: Russell G. Tongay, the children's father, began training Kathy and Bubba at a very young age. Time magazine reported, in 1953, that by ten months old Kathy could swim 20 feet deep. By the time the children were 17 months old, according to Time, they were swimming a quarter-mile per day. In 1950, Russell G. Tongay staged a public swim by his children in the Mississippi River, 22 miles away from St. Louis. Russell followed in a boat while his children swam the river. Kathy, age 2, swam five miles and Bubba, age 4, swam the entire 22 miles to St. Louis. This swim was recorded by gathered reporters and served as a national introduction for the Tongay children. Russell G. Tongay then announced his children would swim the English Channel. Following the Mississippi River swim, Russell G. Tongay began to actively promote the children as an entertainment act. Bubba would leap from a 30-foot diving platform and swim underwater with hands and feet bound before audiences. Eventually, the family moved to Miami where they continued as an act and were promoted by their father, who bragged of their diet, which consisted of all baby food. Europe: The Tongays arrived in Europe in June 1951 but the act was regarded more as abuse than entertainment, and both the British and the French governments forbade the Tongays from swimming the Channel. Upon their arrival in London the entire family was placed under "technical arrest" and argued with the British Home Office to allow the swim. Letters to the editor and a general sense that the swim was exploitative had caused Home Secretary James Chuter Ede to say: "I cannot help thinking that swimming the Channel at that early age is rather a severe test even for an infant prodigy." Initially the Home Office was going to expel the Tongays from the country, but the next day, an office declared they could stay for one month provided the children did not swim for profit.[3] Although the London Daily Mail had offered the children a $20,000 prize for the stunt, and there had been much publicity surrounding their exploits, the Tongays eventually gave up and returned to the United States.The publicity surrounding the Aquatots continued to increase after they returned from Europe. The children were featured in newsreels and made a cameo appearance in the 1952 film Skirts Ahoy!, starring Esther Williams. End of the Aquatots: In May 1953, Kathy Tongay attempted to complete a one-and-a-half layout dive from a height of 33 feet at Miami's Macfadden-Deauville Pool. Her attempt failed and she ended up bellyflopping. Both Kathy and Bubba were accomplished platform divers. Afterward, she complained of back pain. Russell Tongay then took her to the Treasure Isle Pool, a pool the children trained at five days a week. A lifeguard at the pool later reported that Kathy was badly bruised and ill. Her father fed her some baby soup and told her to get into the water. The same lifeguard later stated she was crying and did not swim for long. By noon, the Tongays returned home where Kathy went into convulsions and died by 6 p.m. Homicide detectives stated that Kathy was apparently beaten and had died from a ruptured intestine, internal bleeding and an infection.Russell G. Tongay was charged with second degree murder. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years hard labor. Bubba would later become a beach patrol officer in Miami Beach during his adult years.