History of Swimming

The history of swimming goes way back to that ofSwimming Associations and Clubs popped up all over
prehistoric times. Books written from 2000 to 1500 BCthe world. Some of the first in swimming history were
including the Bible have references to swimming. It wasin China, Sweden and Germany.
mostly used in these times as a means of cleansing.Schools began to believe that swimming was a natural
Any form of competitive swimming wasn’t formedpart of any life education. Therefore, they began to
until the 1800’s in Europe. It was included in the firstteach swimming in schools not just as a life safety
Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece.course but as an extracurricular activity. Schools and
It was noted that Ancient Egypt had cave drawings ofUniversities began to adopt these practices and set up
humans swimming in the nearby sea. They oftenclubs and swim teams. Competitions began to arise
depicted a form of the breaststroke as the first typearound the mid 1800’s. England was the first to
of swimming or something they used to call the frontmodernize the sport and incorporate an indoor
crawl. Ancient Egyptian, Grecian and Roman palacesswimming pool with a swim team. They began to
were often equipped with swimming pools or baths.formulate new swimming styles including the
Often reserved for the elite that used them assidestroke. Shortly after this, variations of the freestyle
relaxation pools and cleaning tubs.began to form and credit can’t really be given to
It is noted by historians that swimming was also oftenone person as so many were responsible for
used in battle. The Greeks were often regarded asdeveloping this technique.
solid swimmers and at the Battle of Salamis after aThe Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens was the first
number of both Greek and Persian boats werereal platform for the sport. There only men competed
destroyed it was said that all of the Persians drownedin a number of events. Throughout the 1900’s the
due to their inability to swim while the Greek prevailed.sport evolved and saw a number of stars arise.
The history of swimming is much easier to understandJohnny Weissmuller, the original Tarzan completed his
than other sports. Without any equipment to speak often year career by never losing a race and winning
an individual can take to the waters. Obviously thosefive Olympic medals.
countries that had the most access to water were theScience and technology began to play a part in the
first to adapt to swimming. History did not have thesport throughout the 1900’s as well. When scientist
spreading of the sport as many other sports hadand coaches began studying swimmers and there
encountered because it was basically alreadyunderwater techniques to improve times. The
available. You either adopted swimming as a means ofswimsuits began to change as well as any form of
life or you just chose not to swim.resistance was under scrutiny from all competitors.
The evolution of swimming history expanded duringGoggles, swim caps and different variations of training
the middle ages. A number of individuals took it uponhave all evolved as well. The US has seen its share of
themselves to write books about swimming. Theygreat Olympians going back to Mark Spitz who won
were often focused on the ability to not drown ratherseven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.
than a perfect backstroke as you would imagine. LifeThe sport has evolved to a very competitive and fun
saving concepts and techniques began to formsport for anyone. That has always been the great
throughout the next few hundred years and aroundappeal that anyone can swim and we have been for
the 18th and 19th century the sport began to evolvethe past 3000 years…So goes the history of
into more of a competition than just life safety.swimming.