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History Of Swimming During The Olympic Games

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HISTORY OF SWIMMING IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES

According to the Oxford dictionary, the act of swimming is to ‘propel one’s body through water by using the limbs or other bodily movement’. Using this form to propel through water is now so technical and refined that it is classed as an individual or team sport as well as a recreational activity. One of the most popular sports of the Olympic Games today is swimming - highlighting events in different strokes like the butterfly, backstroke, freestyle and breaststroke. Competition is conducted both in a purpose built swimming pool as well as the open water. Olympic swimming is one of the most watched and oldest events, competitors from all over the world come together at a hosted city to race. They …show more content…

Not only paintings have been found but also written evidence referencing swimming. The first ever book of swimming was written by a German professor of languages, Nikolaus Wynmann in 1538 called ‘The Swimming or A Dialogue on the Act of Swimming’.
The country that was first to take part in swimming both as a competitive sporting activity and as a recreation was England in the early 18th century. The competitions with time gained popularity leading to the first indoor swimming pool opening for the public in 1828, at the St George Baths, London and operated by the National Swimming Society. Improvements made towards swimming as a sport led to numerous swimming organizations such as Amateur Swimming Association of Great Britain with as many as 300 regional clubs operating throughout England. By 1882 other European countries had also established swimming federations with the first European amateur swimming competitions in 1889.
The style of swimming or stroke that was majorly used was the breaststroke until1844 where two Native American participants introduced the front crawl. Then in 1873 after winning a local competition, Sir John Arthur Trudgen debuted a new hand-over stroke - freestyle, which is still considered today as the most powerful strokes of all swimming styles.
The first women’s swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892 but wasn’t introduced to the Olympic Games until 1912. Men’s

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