HOPE

• Long before Michael Phelps dominated the pool, humans were swimming
• Earliest evidence of swimming

  • Cave of Swimmers in Egypt (10,000-year-old rock art showing humans mid-stroke, along with images of a giraffe and a hippopotamus)
  • Tomb in Egypt from 2,000 BC depicting swimming
• Swimming started showing up in written records around 2,000 BC
• Mentions of swimming in ancient texts

  • The Iliad and the Odyssey
  • The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • Beowulf
• The Japanese are credited with holding some of the first swimming races, as early as 36 B.C.
• In ancient Greece and Rome, swimming was part of military training and was eventually also included in elementary education for young boys
• Plato: 'Failing to know either letters or swimming was a sure sign of ignorance'
• The Romans built larger swimming pools for leisure, and the first known heated swimming pool was built in Rome in the first century BC
• Julius Caesar was known for being a good swimmer and famously escaped from a battle in Alexandria by diving into the water and swimming away from his attackers
• Numerous indigenous tribes in North and South America were strong swimmers, with evidence from around 300 BC showing that the Mayans were skilled fishermen
• Mayan swimming

  • The famous El Mirador Swimming Panels show Mayan heroes swimming among gods and monsters
• Conquistadors exploring South America reported that the Aztec people were excellent swimmers
• Native Americans who lived close to large bodies of water also took part in swimming
• Bajau people


  • They have lived on the water for 1,000 years, and have genetically adapted to a life of intense swimming
  • They are extremely skilled at spearfishing, with some spending up to five hours a day underwater and able to hold their breaths for up to 13 minutes, diving 200 feet deep without using fins
• In the 17th century, the Japanese emperor decreed that swimming was to be required in schools
• By 1837, the National Swimming Society was hosting regular swimming competitions in six pools around London
• Breaststroke


  The first official swim stroke in Europe, which became the dominant swimstroke for hundreds of years after being described in the book The Art of Swimming in 1696
• In 1844, two Native Americans, Flying Gull and Tobacco of the Ojibwe tribe, traveled to London to compete in a swim race, which cemented freestyle in the back of swimmers' minds everywhere
• At the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, there were four events: the 100-, 500- and 1200-meter freestyles, plus a special 100-meter race for sailors. All of the events were done in open water
• Changes in competitive swimming over the years

  • Backstroke was added for men's competition in 1900 and women in 1924
  • Swimsuits got smaller and more technical, and athletes began to refine their skills to move through the water even faster
  • In 1924, swimmers started competing in the standard, 50-meter, Olympic-sized swimming pool with lane markers
  • By the 1950s, the swimming world had agreed on four competitive strokes: Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and front crawl, or freestyle
• Butterfly was originally swum with a breaststroke kick
• Modern swimmers race in specialized, technical suits that are designed to minimize drag and compress the muscles for maximum speed and endurance, and most elite swimmers start training as children, sometimes as young as five or six years old
• Swimming


  A popular recreational activity and competitive sport that involves moving through water using various techniques
• Swimming


  • Offers numerous health benefits such as strengthened cardiovascular health, muscle strength, and increased flexibility
  • Suitable for people of all ages and fitness levels
• Five basic skills in swimming

  • Water Comfort
  • Breath Control
  • Floating
  • Kicking
  • Strokes
• Water Comfort


  The most basic and essential swimming skill is simply becoming comfortable in the water
• Breath Control


  Begins with simple exercises such as drawing a breath, submerging, blowing bubbles and then resurfacing for another breath
• Floating


  Keeping your body in a horizontal position in the water
• Kicking


  Provides propulsion through the water
• Strokes


  The arm movements used to pull the body through the water
• Different swimming strokes


  • Freestyle
  • Backstroke
  • Breaststroke
  • Butterfly Stroke
• Freestyle


  Typically used for speed, as it allows for a streamlined movement that helps the body glide through the water
• Backstroke


  Uses alternating and opposite arm movements, with a flutter kick similar to the front crawl
• Breaststroke


  Swims with the body facing down, with semicircular arm movements and a frog kick
• Butterfly Stroke


  A stomach-position stroke with circular arm movements going above the head and directly into the water
• Swimming equipment


  • Goggles
  • Nose Clip
  • Kickboards
• Goggles


  Protect your eyes from chlorine and help you keep your eyes open while you swim so that you can see where you're going
• Nose Clip


  Designed to keep the water out of your nose
• Kickboards


  Devices made of foam or other materials that float, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes
• Swimming attire


  An item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports