Making Waves
The first wave pool was an electrified lake during the 1800s.
Last week, Chinese engineers officially unveiled a groundbreaking creation: China’s first wave pool. Four of the country’s top surfers participated in a demonstration, successfully testing the manmade waves.
Industry pros paid attention not because the pool was anything special — its surfable two-foot waves have been standard for ages — but because of how China’s manufacturing prowess might signal a new future for wave pool technology.
“If they put their competitive pricing strategies to work, they'll become a force to be reckoned with,” Surfer Today noted.
Despite the possibility of paradigm-shifting Chinese innovation, wave pools are anything but new. The ones you’d encounter at water parks or on cruise ships actually date back much farther than I expected — to the 1800s, when an eccentric Bavarian king wanted waves in his man-made lake.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria assumed the throne in 1864 and ruled until 1886, two decades in which he earned an outlandish reputation as the “Fairytale King,” or, less complimentary, the “Mad King.” A storied patron of Wagner and eventually a recluse, Ludwig was also known for constructing elaborate palaces. Neuschwanstein might be the most familiar to Americans, since it inspired the Disney World castle. (I still have a Neuschwanstein postcard my best friend sent while visiting her grandmother in Germany sometime in the 90s. “It’s just like Disney!” she wrote, next to a drawing of Mickey Mouse.)
But it’s another chateau, Linderhof Palace, that’s relevant to our story. An elaborate mansion surrounded by manicured grounds, it’s tough to paraphrase Linderhof’s intricacies. Here’s how one writer describes the scene:
Extravagant as Linderhof appears from the outside, the exterior is the height of restraint when compared with what is inside: a riot of rococo, a flash of mirrors and the glitter of gold, rich tapestries and lush velvets, crystal chandeliers, the most precious porcelain, lapis and malachite.
The detail that’s relevant to our story is just beyond the palace, where Ludwig ordered an equally ornate riff on Capri’s Blue Grotto.
Linderhof’s Venus Grotto is also an homage to Tannhauser, a Wagner opera that opened in 1845. It’s both technically and aesthetically intriguing: The lake ripples with artificially-engineered waves, lit up by electric lights that can change color on command. The surrounding environment is decorated with a manmade waterfall and faux-stalactites made from concrete and cast iron.
According to Surfer Today, Germany continued to lead the world’s fascination with wave pools in the years that followed. A publicly accessible wave pool opened in Munich in 1929. Soon, wave pools popped up around the world, from London (1939) to Tempe, Arizona (1969). Though the waves were typically small — like China’s new wave pool, they typically produced waves of two to three feet — they were still surfable or at least novel enough to intrigue patrons.
In 1989, roughly a century after the Venus Grotto was completed, Disney emulated Ludwig again by constructing a wave pool. Fred Joerger, a Disney engineer, had already tested Disney’s water park format with an attraction called River Country, which featured a sand beach, a lake, and water rides.
When Disney realized River Country was a hit, park executives called for a new and improved water park that would feature better safety, heated water, and more space to meet guests’ demands. Joerger quickly got to work on Typhoon Lagoon, a water park that featured a lazy river and flume rides. It also contained a surf pool, distinct from wave pools thanks to the quality of its waves.
Today, industry magazines lust after the perfectly engineered waves that are generated in surf pools around the world, some reaching eight or twelve feet. Computer programs can generate technically perfect waves with precision, or simulate the ocean’s imperfect sequences.
In Malaysia, Australia, Spain, and Waco, Texas, surfers are discovering these new mechanical waves. Before long, they might not even need to go to the beach.
~ Some Personal News ~
I’ve always planned to take the full-time freelancing plunge at some point, and last week I left my day job to focus on my own writing and client work full time.
This means I’m available for freelance work! I specialize in editing, reporting, writing, and, of course, research. (I published a thread over on Twitter that summarizes all my best work from the past few years, and what kinds of projects I’m looking to take on.) If you’d like to work together, feel free to get in touch!