Origin of Swimming

The word swimming is derived from the old English term “swimming”, which means the act of propelling
oneself through the water by means of the arms and the legs. Swimming as practiced by man probably
dates back to the prehistoric times. Literature and sculpture prior to the middle Ages furnished many
indications that swimming was common among various people through the ancient world. Ancient has
belief, dated around 880 B.C., showing soldiers propelling themselves through the water by an over arm
stroke that resembles the modern front crawl stroke.

It was also believed that prehistoric people learned to swim by watching the actions of the
animals in the water and logged cut tress floating then imitating those motions. Hence, indicates that
swimming was acknowledged at the time. Competitions took place in Japan in 36 B.C., and that country
was the first to take to the sport in a major way with an imperial edict by the Emperor Go-Yozei
decreeing its introduction in schools.

The plagues that swept in Europe during the Middle Ages discourage recreational swimming. It
was generally believed that outdoor bathing was contributing faster in spreading the diseases. By the
19th Century that belief had been dispelled and in the late 19th century amateur swimming clubs began
conducting swimming competitions as a competitive sport.

In 1837, England introduced swimming as a competitive sport. The English was the first people of
modern times to complete swimming as a sport rather using it primarily as a skill of survival. Early
English swimmers used breaststroke and the modern sidestroke. By 1845 North America Indians
traveled to England to swim competitively. The Indians swimmers used an overhand stroke or similar to
a windmill action that form a crawl stroke. The English swimmers were shock when the Indians won the
most of the contest because their stroke was faster than the English stroke.

In 1869, formal rules for swimming meets were first established by England’s Amateur Swimming
Association. By 1878 the first world swimming record was recognized. It was set by E.T. Jones, who
swam 100 yards in 68 and half seconds. In late 1800s J. Arthur Trudgen an English swimming instructor
introduced a double overhand stroke using the scissor kick, it was known as “Trudgen Crawl”. This
stroke has recently restored to competitive swimming and some modern distance swimmer have set
new records using it. American J.H. Derbyshire using the trudgen crawl, swan 100 yards in 60 seconds
for the world record.
In 1878, Frederick Cavill, an English man and his family immigrate to Australia. They observed the
swimming style of the local native’s kicking action, combined with double overhand stroke as resulted in
an exceptional speed. This stroke is known as “Australian Crawl”. In the 1900s, Cavill’s family helped
spread the Australian Crawl to England and United States. Eventually the Australian Crawl evolved into
the American Crawl and into the Freestyle swimming techniques used today.