News > How the Titanic's gym forever changed fitness
How the Titanic's gym forever changed fitness
By Titanic's third full day at sea, most passengers had at least a passing knowledge of this curious place, the Titanic gym, and the thick-chested man who managed it. Thomas W McCawley had become a carnival barker on the boat, explaining to anybody and everybody who would listen that someday physical fitness was going to take the world by storm. Passengers admired his hustle but chuckled at the absurdity. McCawley didn't invent fitness, and the Titanic wasn't the first gym.