What is the history of swimming?

Human beings have been swimming for millennia. According to Wikipedia, Stone Age cave
drawings depict individuals swimming and there are written references in the Bible and the
Greek poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" dating back 1,500 to 2,000 years. There are even
Egyptian clay seals from 4000 BC showing four swimmers doing a version of the crawl, and the
most famous swimming drawings were apparently found in the Kebir desert and were estimated
to be from around 4000 BC.
According to the Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports, literature specifically related
to swimming grew in the middle ages. It is believed that the first book devoted to swimming
was Colymbetes by Nicolas Wynman written in 1538, and a more widely recognized text, De
Arte Nantandi, was published in Latin by Everard Digby in 1587. The encyclopedia also reports
that swimming was required of knights and that Romans built bathhouses and pools in the cities
they conquered to serve as social clubs and places toexercise.
Organized swimming began in the 1800s and 1900s with the creation of swimming associations
(for example, the Amateur Swimming Association in 1886) and clubs that competed against each
other. There are reports from that era of swimming clubs in England, France, Germany, and the
United States. High-profile events also contributed to swimming's visibility. For instance,
Matthew Webb swam the English Channel in 1875.
Competitive swimming continued to grow in popularity during the 1800s and was included in the
first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. In 1904, the Olympics in St. Louis included the
50-, 100-, 220-, 440-, 880-yard and one-mile freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and 440-yard
breaststroke, and a 4x50-yard freestyle relay.
By the 20th century, swimming had become main stream. Indoor pools were beginning to appear,
most towns with populations over 20,000 had public outdoor pools, and swimming clubs became
increasingly popular for recreation. Women participated for the first time in swimming in the
Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912, and Johnny Weissmuller (considered by many authorities
to be the greatest swimmer of all time and who later went on to Tarzan fame in movies) became
the first person to swim 100 meters in less than one minute.
Today swimming is the second most popular exercise activity in the United States, with
approximately 360 million annual visits to recreational water venues. Swim clubs, recreation
centers, Y's, and many other facilities feature swimming pools. Many high schools and colleges
have competitive swim teams, and of course, swimming is one of the most popular Olympic
sports. Millions of Americans are swimming each year. Are you one of them? If not, the
following information may help get you started.

What are the swimming strokes?

Breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and crawl (freestyle) are the most popular swim strokes. The
breaststroke and butterfly are more difficult to learn than the backstroke and crawl.
Breaststroke
The breaststroke involves exquisite timing, and in fact, you can be disqualified from competition
if you miss even one stroke. The stroke involves form that causes your body to bob up and down
as you glide forward through the water. This is a difficultstroke and not one to choose if you're
just learning how to swim. The basics are that your arms pull, you breathe, you kick (arms
alternate with the kick), and you glide. Here are details.
The leg kick:

Bring the knees to chest.

Thrust the legs backward and straight.

Snap the legs together to push the water and propel you forward (frog kick).

The arm stroke:

Start with the arms overhead.

Pull on the water, and bring arms toward the chest.

Keep the hands cupped.

Return arms to starting position.

The breathing:

Breathe every time you stroke with your arms.

Butterfly
Like the breaststroke, this is a difficult stroke and not recommended for beginners because it
requires perfect timing and a good deal of strength. During the stroke, the legs move together in
a dolphin kick (imagine a mermaid), the arms move together to push the water downward and
backward, and the torso undulates like an earthworm as the body moves forward through the
water.

The leg kick:

Bend the knees slightly, and keep them together.

Make a downward thrust by straightening the knees and whipping thefeet downward.

There should be two kicks for every arm stroke.

The arm stroke:

Move the arms together, and pull through the water with the hands cupped.

Face the palms outward, and press down and outward.

Swing the arms forward above the water in a sweeping motion to complete the stroke.

The breathing:

Breathe at the end of the arm stroke.

Backstroke
The backstroke is easier than the butterfly or breaststroke and similar to the crawl in that you use
an alternate windmill arm stroke and flutter kick. Two keys to a proper backstroke are that your
arms move with equal strength, otherwise you will swim off to one side, and that your body rolls
from side to side so that your arms catch enough water to propel you forward.
The leg kick:

Is a flutter kick where the legs kick in an alternating order.

Bend the knees slightly.

Relax the feet and ankles (they should be almost floppy).

Emphasize the up-kick for propulsion.

The arm stroke:

Move the arms in an alternating, windmill pattern as they rotate and pass your face.

Cup the hands, and the thumb leaves the water first.

Move the hands in an "S" pattern when they are pushing the water.

The breathing:

Keep your head back and eyes toward the ceiling.

You can find your own breathing pattern with the backstroke because the breathing is less
coordinated with the arms and kick than other strokes since your head should always be out
of the water.

Crawl (freestyle)
This is the most popular stroke and the easiest for beginners to learn. It is a simple flutter kick
and windmill arm motion, like the backstroke, only on your belly. The most difficult part is
coordinating the breathing since your face is in the water most of the time.
The leg kick:

It's a flutter kick where the legs kick in an alternating order.

Bend the knees slightly.

Relax the feet and ankles (the should be almost floppy).

Emphasize the down-kick for propulsion.

The arm stroke:

Move the arms in an alternating windmill motion.

Pull each arm through the water with equal strength and arm reach to ensure that you
swim straight.

Pull arms underwater in an "S" pattern.

Cup the hands but keep the wrist and hand relaxed during recovery.

The breathing:

Raise one arm to begin the stroke. As the shoulder rises, turn the head to catch a breath.

Turn the head only enough to leave the water to breathe. Do not lift the head because it
will slow you down.

Take as many breaths as necessary and then exhale through the nose and mouth when the
head returns to the water.

Repeat the head turn to the other side in coordination with the beginning of the opposite
arm stroke.

The freestyle flip turn (when swimming the crawl)

There are a couple of options for turning around when you reach the wall during lap swimming.
You can simply touch the wall and turn around and start swimming again or you can do a flip
turn. The flip turn is essentially a somersault in the water where you flip and turn and use your
legs to power-kick off the wall. The flip turn, when completed properly, is fast, efficient, and
time-saving. If you've ever watched Olympic swimming, you see the swimmers gracefully
execute their flip turns. Here are the basics.

Start the somersault before reaching the wall by tucking the chin and pulling the knees
into a tuck position.
Blow out air to avoid inhaling water.
Straighten out the body-tuck halfway through the flip and extend the legs toward the
wall.

You will be on your back at this point.

Push off the wall.

Roll over onto the belly and glide toward the surface of the water.

Hold the glide until you break the surface of the water, and then start stroking
immediately.

The flip turn takes practice, but with consistent work, you can master it. It's worth trying if you
swim laps for exercise.