Swimming is an activity that’s been around for a long time. Some of its first forms have been in ancient caves that have illustrations of people swimming. Some others include in the Greek epic poems “The Illiad” and “The Odyssey.” During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, swimming began to be a structured activity and later on in history became a popular sport. In 1896, it was a portion of the Olympics in Athens, Greece and it continues to be part of the summer Olympics. Currently, swimming is the second most popular exercise in the United States with millions of people partaking in it.
Swimming is composed of many different strokes, one of them being the front crawl, also known as the freestyle. This stroke is very simple and
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As the one arm advances to begin the stroke and the shoulder rises, the head should turn to get a breath. However, once the head is spun, it must only be enough to leave the water and then take as many breaths required. Once the head returns to the water, the swimmer should begin to breathe out of their nose and mouth. If the head is lifted out of the water when the swimmer is getting the breath of air and not turned just enough to only get a breath, it will slow the swimmer down. When the breathing portion of the freestyle is finished, repeat to the other side with the other arm stroke. Once all of these things are applied in the pool, the swimmer is using the proper body mechanics for the front crawl stroke.
Another stroke in swimming is the backstroke. This is very similar to the past stroke discussed, the front crawl, but it has different aspects that are stressed more. The leg kick for the backstroke includes the flutter kick with changing order, slightly bent knees, relaxed feet and ankles, but it doesn’t put importance on the down-kick. The backstroke puts prominence on the up-kick for a driving force in the needed direction. As for the arm stroke, the arms are in an alternating windmill pattern as they rotate and pass the swimmer’s face. Like the freestyle, the hands are cupped, but the thumb leaves the water first. As the hands are pushing the water, the hands create the “S” pattern too. Although the backstroke needs the swimmer on their
Since the beginning of time the people of the world have their share of beliefs. Greek mythology is the arguably the most popular region of study. In Ancient Greece every citizen had a patron that would protect them and pantheism was commonplace. The Romans admired the Greeks in their art and culture and even took different aspects of their gods. Polytheism was widely accepted in all cultures so the seed of mythology bloomed. The time line of the creations of gods to the end of their reign is an important factor in Greek Mythology.
As I mentioned before swimmers aren’t based on their ability to master the techniques but also in the values they posses. The values they posses are respect, honesty, fairness and courage. I had to learn and use those values everyday I went to swimming practice. There’s one thing that I needed to have to become part of the discourse community, which was being passionate about swimming and not giving up. At the beginning it was really hard for me not to give up when I was exhausted, but after becoming more passionate for swimming I never gave up. There were moments when I thought of giving up, but I knew that if I really wanted to call my self a swimmer I shouldn’t give up and I didn’t. For example, once I was in a Swimming Festival in my High School where I competed the four different strokes. I always finished second in the 50-meter freestyle race, but that day I decided I would end up first place. The race started and I jumped into the water and started pacing my self so that I would finish strong. In the first 25-meters we were all tied up and I was starting to feel tired. But I knew I couldn’t give up, so I took a deep breath and pushed harder. I pushed harder and was able to win the first place. After this race, I realized that even though I felt like giving up, something inside me was telling me to push harder and that thought led me to success. I was able to
My parents tell me that I took to swimming like... a fish takes to water. It is a safe place where I can float free of worries. Driven by passion and dedication, I decided to begin swimming competitively. Competitive swimming requires an intense level of determination and discipline. Forcing myself to get out of my warm bed at 5:30 in the morning to put on a still-slightly-damp swimsuit and stand in 40-degree weather waiting for practice to start. Putting up with limited lane space and irritating swimmers who think they are faster. Making a conscious effort to work on my stroke form, turns, touches, and techniques. The water becomes a whirlpool of injuries, losses, wins, friendships, enemies, and sickness. The water becomes home.
"Swimming instruction, which in time became swimming practice, was grueling, but there was the deep pleasure of doing a stroke with increasing ease and speed" (Martell 10).
A large number of swimmers don’t like it, whether that be because of the sheer difficulty, or because swimming makes them anxious, or because they’ve simply been swimming for so long that they are no longer entertained. The last option is the one that seems to hold true for most club swimmers who no longer find joy in the sport, the ones who have been doing it for five, eight, even eleven years. Those are the people who are simply tired of it. I, on the other hand, love swimming and the feeling of gliding though the water. People will tell you that no one, in any sport, really enjoys practices, but I can honestly tell you that I do. For at least the last five months I have looked forward to swim practice everyday. If nothing else, I know that I have an outlet for my anger, frustration, or any other emotion that I may have. At best, I know that I have a group of friends who are all working to achieve the same goal as I am and that I can always lean on them for support and they can always lean on me, if need be. The feeling of swimming a good race is one of the best feelings in the world. When you can tell that you're just flying through the water and you have everyone’s attention and you know that you're better than you were the last time you raced, better than you were yesterday. I guess maybe that’s the thing I like about practice, that everyday I’m
There are many different varieties of swimming strokes; a freestyle stroke, a breaststroke, butterfly stroke, back stroke, side stroke, as well as a elementary side stroke. Each of these range in proficiency. Beginning with the freestyle stroke, you must first begin concentrating on each and every specific aspect of your stroke, You find your head position, reach forward, rotate
The journey of competitive swimming started at the age of eight for my local `neighborhood team. I exhibited great potential for the future, for I won nearly all my races. This seemed like the sport
As I previously mentioned, I will describe the four basic strokes that swimming consists of, such as the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly
In freestyle the objective is to jump as high as you can and stay in the air as long as you can. You need to be confident and willing to give it your all. You cannot be scared. While in
Thesis/main topic – Learning how to swim is essential for being around water, it will help strengthen a person confidence, improve your physical fitness, and provide an area for stress release.
Most early swimmers used breaststroke, but the very first Olympic events were freestyle. Backstroke was added in 1900. In the 1940s, breaststrokers figured out that they could go faster by bringing both arms over their heads. Unfortunately, this was forbidden in breaststroke, but they did allow a new stroke called butterfly. Lator in swimming history people invented backstroke, witch completed the
Lifting the head or armpit breathing are two common swimming flaws during the freestyle breathing motion. These motions greatly impede the swimming stroke as they create more drag. Recently, Formosa (2014) researched breathing and drag in elite male and female swimmers.
So for me, in a 25m pool, I take like 19 strokes on average. So my stroke length is 25meters/19 strokes = 1.31 m. Haha my arm isn't really really that long, but that's exactly what I have to classify "arm length".
Watching the screen, many children and adults are glued to the swimmers that race each other in the Olympics. The swimmers are young and strong, but many do not know who these swimmers are. Adding on to what they do not know contains the history of swimming in the glorified Olympics. The backstory of this sporting event shows the progression and improvement of swimming because swimming evolved through the Olympics. This includes the beginning, improvement, and modern Olympic swimming sport.
The crash of the waves hitting the sand, the crisp scent of salt in the air, the soft grainy texture under the toes, the vast blue water stretching out in front looking endless, as I step into it ever so carefully. I descend into the refreshing water, with just a snorkel sticking above the brink. I am surrounded by neon colors of corals, fish and many other sea creatures. Encompassed by the sea life, I felt like they accepted me as one of their own as they whirled around me. The strategic way of swimming is new but life changing. Swimming amongst many other living species was difficult because you really couldn’t use your legs; if you did you could possibly disturb the life around you. Swimming without using your legs is quite difficult because you are then force to use just your arms to project yourself forward.