A brief history of Swimming

Swimming is an ancient activity that has taken place since both

water and humans were on the earth. Prehistoric drawings from
the southwestern part of Egypt show original documentation of
people swimming. The images seem to show the dog paddle or
breaststroke, but these may have been more ritualistic than
anything. Of course, anciently, swimming was done because it
was necessary for survival. Whether people needed to cross a
river to safety on the other side or simply know how to tread
water to prevent drowning, swimming has certainly come a long
way since its ancient days. Here is the history of swimming in a
competitive sense as it is known today.

Recognizing swimming
England is recognized as the first country to participate in
swimming as a recreation and competitive sport. In 1837,
competitions were held in man-made pools in London. The
National Swimming Society in England organized the
competitions which grew quickly in popularity. The very first
indoor pool in the history of swimming was constructed in 1862
in England. Soon, more pools were built and another swimming
organization was established in 1880. It was known as the
Amateur Swimming Association of Great Britain, an
organization with more than 300 member clubs. The main
swimming styles utilized in competitions were the breaststroke
and the recently-developed sidestroke.

Entering the Olympics

Swimming joined the Olympics in 1896 as a mens sport. They
competed in the categories of 100-meter and 1500-meter
Freestyle. These were held in open water. More Olympic events
were soon added during the history of swimming, including
breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and individual medley. The
first few Olympic Games that featured swimming did not include
women. It was not until 1912 that womens swimming made its
debut. There are now 16 races held for men and women,
totaling 32 altogether, in each Summer Olympic Games. The
Special Olympics also has 22 swimming categories for men and
women, totaling 44 altogether.

Modifying for speed

Modifications in swimming techniques occurred through this
point in the history of swimming as different counties changed
the way they accomplished the backstroke and breaststroke.
This occurred between 1935 and 1945 and into the 1950s,
creating controversy at the Olympics. Around this same time,
war shortages demanded a reduction in fabric for making
swimming suits. Thus, the first two-piece swimming suits were
invented in 1943. Techniques for winning Olympic gold medals
changed at this time as swimmers spent more time under water
to gain an advantage of speed. It is a technique that is still used
today.

ANCIENT TIMES

Prehistoric drawings from the southwestern part of Egypt

show original documentation of people swimming. The
images seem to show the dog paddle or breaststroke, but
these may have been more ritualistic than anything.
 An Egyptian clay seal dated between 9000 BC and 4000
BC shows four people who are believed to be swimming a variant
of the front crawl.
More references to swimming are found in the Babylonian bas-
reliefs and Assyrian wall drawings, depicting a variant of the
breaststroke.
The Nagoda bas-relief also shows swimmers inside of men dating
back from 3000 BC.
The Indian palace Mohenjo Daro from 2800 BC contains
a swimming pool sized 12 m by 7 m. The Minoan palace
of Knossosin Crete also featured baths. An Egyptian tomb
from 2000 BC shows a variant of front crawl. Depictions of
swimmers have also been found from the Hittites, Minoans and
other Middle Eastern civilizations, in the Tepantitla compound
at Teotihuacan, and in mosaics in Pompeii.