1. The people during ancient times learned how to fish, hunt and swim.

They also learned some

movements which we can see in some cave paintings. Swimming and training was also part of
martial training and was also part of elementary education for males. Today, swimming is not
only a recognized sport but has also became popular for leisure. Pools are almost everywhere;
hotels, inns, private associations, apartment buildings, condominiums, schools and universities.
Over the years, water theme parks with rides, slides and artificial waves began to attract large
numbers of thrill seekers.

2. People went swimming in the Middle Ages for a lot of reasons, including cooling of in the
summer and getting clean. Some of these are more ceremonial, such as baptisms or people
swimming in the Fountain of Youth. The focus here is more on swimming for leisure.

In the Renaissance By the 18th and 19th century swimming has become more and more popular
in default of swimming pools, bathing cabins were installed on the riverside and seaside or
mobile ambulant cabins were set up. In the 18 th century swimming pools started to be built.

For the Ancient Greeks, swimming was a measure of culture. Although swimming was not
included in the programme for the Olympic Games, it was an important part of education. In
Athens, Solon made the acquisition of the science of swimming compulsory in 594 B.C. and
Lykourgos, the lawmaker of Sparta, prescribed the same in a strict act on education in the 9 th
century.

3. In Ancient times learned some techniques for swimming. They showed their swimming
technique in the paintings on the cave wall.
In ancient times our ancestors settled down to the life giving water. On an ancient Egyptian clay
tablet from 4000 – 9000 B.C. it is easier to identify the style. The arm-stoke clearly shows the
movement phase of the freestyle arm-stroke. It is likely that they overcame water obstacles
dog-peddling and doing propulsive arm movements similar to today’s freestyle arm stroke.

The contempt of “bodily vanity”, the deemphasis of body culture and of the hygiene education
characterized the man of the early Middle Ages. Due to the widespread of Christianity,
swimming and bathing culture fully declined.

People in the Renaissance discovered the beauty of the human body and that of physical
activity, returned to the ancient values of body culture. Swimming and bathing in waters have
become popular again.