This article is about competitive swimming as a recreational activity.

For the general article on

human movement in the water, see Human swimming.
"Swimmer" redirects here. For other uses, see Swimmer (disambiguation).

Swimming

Start of the 4 × 100 meters relay during the 2008 Summer

Olympics in Beijing

Highest governing body FINA

First competitions 1930s

Characteristics

Contact No

Team members Teams or individuals

Venue Swimming pools or open-

water

Presence

Country or region Worldwide

Olympic 1896

World Championships 1973

Swimming is an individual or team sport that uses arms and legs to move the body through water.
The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of
the most popular Olympic sports,[1] with varied distance events
in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley. In addition to these individual
events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay. Swimming each stroke
requires specific techniques, and in competition, there are specific regulations concerning the
acceptable form for different strokes.[2] There are also regulations on what types of swimsuits, caps,
jewelry and injury tape are allowed at competitions. Although it is possible for competitive swimmers
to incur several injuries from the sport -- such as tendinitis in the shoulder-- there are also multiple
health benefits associated with the sport.