1867 - Charles Steedman published his ‘Manual of British Swimming’
English swimming champion Charles Steedman published his ‘Manual of Swimming’ in 1867, at the end of which he said; “A small deal board, about five feet long, one foot broad, and an inch thick, termed a ‘surf board’, is of considerable help to a swimmer who is crossing water on which the foam is deep – for by its aid he can raise his head to breathe above the surface of the foam.”