OLYMPIC SWIMMING

WHAT IS OLYMPIC SWIMMING?

Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912. Along with track & field athletics and gymnastics, it is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games. Swimming has the second-highest number of Olympic events (after athletics).At the international and Olympic level, swimming is governed by FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation). They also govern water polo, diving, synchronized swimming, and masters swimming. The complete set of swimming rules for all aspects of the competition are available on the FINA website. Any country that has a swimming program and swim meets to move swimmers onto the international stage set that country's swimming rules based on the FINA rules. Olympic swimming uses four basic swimming styles or strokes. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly (or all four within one race—that is called the IM or individual medley). There are 16 swimming pool events for men and women swimmers in the modern Olympic Games. In 2008 an open water, 10-kilometer marathon swimming race was added to the Olympic Swimming program. In the first four Olympics, competitions were not held in pools, but rather in open water (1896, the Mediterranean Sea; 1900, the Seine; 1904, an artificial lake; 1906, the Mediterranean). The 1904 Olympics' races were the only ones ever measured in yards, instead of the usual meters. A 100-metre pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and was located in the center of the main stadium's track and field oval. The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbor, marked the beginning of electrical timing.

Male swimmers wore full body swimsuits up until the 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern swim-wear counterparts. Also, over the years, pool designs have lessened the drag. Some design considerations allow for the reduction of swimming resistance making the pool faster. Namely, proper pool depth, elimination of waves, elimination of currents, increased lane width, energy absorbing racing lane lines and gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic, illumination, and swimwear designs. The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 meter pool with marked lanes. In the freestyle, swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were incorporated starting at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The flip-turn was developed by the 1950s. Swimming goggles were first allowed in 1976. The butterfly stroke events were not held until 1956. Previous rules permitted the butterfly stroke in breaststroke races. After 1956, when these rules were changed, butterfly became its own stroke entirely.

HISTORY

While humans have likely been swimming ever since they dipped their toe in the water, it’s believed that swimming as a practice dates back as early as 2500 BC. The Ancient Egyptians were said to swim in the Nile for pleasure, while the Greeks and Romans used it as a means of training prospective soldiers. Swimming had its origins in Egypt as a leisure sport around 2500 BCE, archeological evidence has shown that ancient Greeks and Romans later used the practice to train soldiers for war to eventually become “part of elementary education for males.” They are also believed to have built the first swimming pools, distinctly different from their baths. Evidence of a few races taking place in Japan around the 1st Century, BCE has also been uncovered. Not surprisingly, ancient Pacific Island natives are believed to have taught their children how to swim around the same time or even before they learned how to walk. Swimming started its sporting journey in the mid-19th century, when the world’s first swimming organisation was formed in London in 1837. Inevitably, things soon became competitive and, in 1846, the first swimming championship was held in Australia. The race became an annual event, and it was an early indicator for the future success of competitive swimming. Swimming has been part of the Olympic schedule since the very first modern Olympic Games in 1896. It’s one of only four disciplines to have been retained, appearing in every summer Olympics since – the others being athletics, artistic gymnastics and fencing. Although swimming’s origins were rooted in leisure, the sport quickly evolved into a competition even before the first Olympic Games in 1896. In 1837, the first swimming organization was created in London and became known as England’s National Swimming Society. The name would later be changed to the Swimming Association of Great Britain in 1874. During the 19th century, Australia—hungry for competition—began to hold regular championship races. In 1846, Australia held the first swimming championships. This was the first chance for different national teams to compete against each other and would dictate the future of competitive swimming. In the following years, various nations would host their own championship meets; the United States got their chance in 1877. As time has progressed, more events – and swimming techniques – have been added to the Olympic swimming programme. At the 1956 Melbourne Games, the butterfly stroke made its debut. In 1968 in Mexico City, there was an almighty leap – the biggest jump in new events between Games – when the number of swimming events grew from eight to 14 for women, and 10 to 15 for men. 토토사이트

TRIVIA

In 1896, a boat dropped everyone into the icy waters of the Mediterranean, and the first swimmer to shore won. That first gold medalist in swimming was Hungarian Alfred Hajos. He was quoted as saying "My will to live completely overcame my desire to win".

The first women's swimming gold medal was won by the Australian Sarah 'Fanny' Durack, who won the 100m freestyle in 1912.