The Swim Coach Who Accidentally Invented Spring Break

In 1936, Colgate University s swim coach Sam Ingram took his team to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to practice during what is now known as spring break time. The city had the only Olympic size swimming pool at that time in Florida. Two years later in 1938, the city of Ft. Lauderdale caught on and decided to host 300 collegiate swim teams for a meet over spring break to help boost the local economy. The phenomenon of spring break was reported on for the first time in 1959 by TIME magazine.