History of Swimming

Swimming, a common ability among mammals including many primates, has been known since prehistoric humanoids. Drawings from the Stone Age were found in "the cave of swimmers" near Wadi Sora (or Sura) in the southwestern part of Egypt. Written references date back up to 2000 B.C., including Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible (Ezekiel 47:5, Acts 27:42, Isaiah 25:11), Beowulf, and other sagas. In 1538 Nicolas Wynman, German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book "Colymbetes". Competitive swimming in Europe started around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. The front crawl, then called the trudgen was introduced in 1873 by John Arthur Trudgen, copying it from Native Americans.

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Swimming was part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. In 1900 backstroke was included as an Olympic Event. In 1902 the trudgen was improved by Richard Cavill, using the flutter kick. In 1908, the world swimming association Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) was formed. Butterfly was first a variant of Breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.

Technique

The human body is composed primarily of water, and thus has a very similar density to water. Since only roughly 70% of the body is water, it is slightly less dense than the surrounding water, which exerts a buoyant force on it. Thus staying afloat requires only a slight propelling of water downward relative to the body, and transverse motion only a slight propelling of water in a direction opposite to the direction of intended motion. This propelling is accomplished by cupping the hands and using them as paddles, and by kicking the legs to push water away from the body.

A number of swimming styles have been developed based on the implementation of some or all of the following principles:
The torso and the legs should be kept as parallel as possible to the surface of the water. Dropped legs or a slanted torso dramatically increase drag. The hand should be extended forward of the head as much as possible. This increases the average length at the water-line, substantially increasing speed.

The time spent on the side should be maximized because the torso is narrower front-to-back than side-to-side on most swimmers. This reduces the frontal cross-section, reducing drag further, and also increasing the ratio between the body's water-line-length and width. Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water. The torso is by far the most critical. The motion of the hand, arm, and leg from the back to the front should be in the air for as much as possible, and in the water, oriented as perfectly as possible, because the returning appendage has to move at least twice as fast as the swimmer, and in the water generates eight times the drag (which increases with the cube of the speed) of an equal amount of torso frontal area.

The basic "catch" of the water is not nearly as critical as the above items. Most swimmers simply grab water with their hand flat, or the fingers slightly spread, and then draw it smoothly down their body. None of the above techniques require improved strength. With strength training, the hands and feet can be extended further into the water, gaining more propulsion. For beginners, increased strength brings only small improvements if the above strategies (minimizing drag and lengthening water-line) are not optimal.

Competitive swimming

The goal of competitive swimming is to swim the fastest for a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century, and currently comprises 34 events - 17 male events and 17 female events. Swimming is a popular event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Competitive swimming's international governing body is FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation), the International Swimming Federation.

The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. These strokes can be swum individually or together in an individual medley (IM). The IM order is: 1) butterfly, 2) backstroke, 3) breaststroke, and 4) freestyle. There is also the medley relay in which the order is: 1) backstroke, 2) breaststroke, 3) butterfly, and 4) freestyle. Each of the four swimmers in the relay swims one or two lengths of a 50m pool or two or four lengths in a 25 yard/meter pool. In freestyle relay (FR) each of the four swimmers swims one or two laps of freestyle in a 50m pool, or two, four, or eight laps in a 25 yard/meter pool.

In the United States and Great Britain many communities sponsor competitive swimming leagues (for children and young people aged 4-18), made up of individual swim teams, which may range in size from a few dozen swimmers to several hundred swimmers. These leagues for the most part adhere to recognized swimming rules, swim the standard strokes, but swim shorter lengths as events in swim meets. These leagues are usually active in the warmer months, and are not directly associated with a national or world swim organization. However, some swimmers who begin their competitive swimming experience on such a local swim team go on to join a nationally-governed team, on their path to an Olympic berth later.

The most common reason for swimming is recreation, where the swimmer enters the water merely for enjoyment. Recreational swimming is considered by many a good way to relax, as well as providing a good full-body workout. Several swimming styles are suitable for recreational swimming; most recreational swimmers prefer a style that keeps their head out of the water and with an underwater arm recovery. Breaststroke,side stroke, 'dog paddle', are the most common stokes utilized in recreational swimming, but the out-of-water arm recovery of freestyle or Butterfly gives rise to better exploitation of the difference in resistance air and water.

Butterfly, which consists of out-of-water recovery with even symmetry in body movements, is most suited to rough water swimming. For example, in a record-setting example of endurance swimming, Vicki Keith crossed the rough waters of Lake Ontario using butterfly. Most recreational swimming takes place in pools, where the water is calm. Therefore freestyle (which does not work as well in rough water) is suitable. Venues for recreational swimming are Swimming Pools, beaches, lakes, swimming holes, creeks, rivers, and sometimes canals.

Occupational swimming

Some occupations require the worker to swim. For example, abalone divers or pearl divers swim and dive to obtain an economic benefit, as do spear fishermen.

Swimming is used to rescue other swimmers in distress. There are a number of specialized swimming styles especially for rescue purposes (see List of swimming styles). Such techniques are studied by lifeguards or members of the Coast Guard. The training of these techniques has also evolved into competitions such as surf lifesaving.

Swimming is studied to improve the performances of competitive swimmers. Swimming is also used in marine biology to observe plants and animals in their natural habitat. Other sciences may also use swimming, for example Konrad Lorenz swam with geese as part of his studies of animal behavior.

Swimming also hasmilitary purposes. A swimmer in the water or under the water can be difficult to detect, especially at night. Military swimming is usually done by Special Forces, such as Navy SEALS. Swimming is used to approach a location, gather intelligence, sabotage or combat, and to depart a location. This may also include airborne insertion into water or leaving a submerged submarine through a hatch or the torpedo tubes. Special equipment and techniques are also used to engage hostiles in and under water.

Swimming has more recently become a professional sport as well. Companies such as Speedo and Tyr Sports, Inc. sponsor swimmers just as Nike sponsors basketball players. Cash awards are also given at many of the major competitions for breaking records.