Tragedy at the Natatorium pool
A star pitcher for the Spokane baseball team collapses and dies after a swim, cutting short a career that saw 21 wins in a single season.
Ernest Nichols, a 22-year-old star pitcher for the Pacific National Baseball League, died suddenly Monday evening at Natatorium Park in Spokane. Nichols had been laughing and joking with teammates while swimming in the pool. While waiting for a streetcar, he suddenly collapsed; despite the efforts of teammates, he could not be revived. A San Francisco native, Nichols had proven himself a rising talent, securing 21 victories out of 25 games during his first professional season.
“Nichols, apparently in good health, had been talking and laughing with other Spokane ball players while taking a plunge in the Natatorium pool.”
Public pools and social clubs were the center of urban leisure in 1903. This story captures the vulnerability of professional athletes before modern sports medicine, where a sudden collapse was often recorded simply as 'heart trouble'.
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