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PRELIM GRADING PERIOD ACTIVITIES

PE03 – SWIMMING WITH BASIC LIFE SUPPORT

History of Swimming
Ancient times:
 10,000-year-old rock paintings of people swimming were found in the Cave of Swimmers near Wadi Sura in
southwestern Egypt.
 These pictures seem to show breaststroke or doggy paddle, although it is also possible that the movements have a
ritual meaning unrelated to swimming.
 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 and Assyrian wall drawings, depicting a variant of the
breaststroke.
 The Indian palace Mohenjo Daro from 2800 BC contains a swimming pool sized 12 m by 7 m.
 An Egyptian tomb from 2000 BC shows a variant of front crawl.
 Written references date back to ancient times, with the earliest as early as 2000 BC. Such references occur in works
like Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible (Ezekiel 47:5, Acts 27:42, Isaiah 25:11), Beowulf, and other sagas,
although the style is never described.
 There are also many mentions of swimmers in the Vatican, Borgian and Bourbon codices. A series of reliefs from 850
BC in the Nimrud Gallery of the British Museum shows swimmers, mostly in military context, often using swimming
aids.
 78 AD – the Romans introduced swimming as a social event to Britain.
 Since swimming was done in a state of undress, it became less popular as society became more conservative in the
early Modern period.
 1400 – The Catholic Church objects to naked bathing on moral grounds.
 Leonardo da Vinci made early sketches of lifebelts.
 In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a Swiss–German professor of languages, wrote the earliest known complete book
about swimming, Colymbetes, sive de arte natandi dialogus et festivus et iucundus lectu (The Swimmer, or A
Dialogue on the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read). His purpose was to reduce the dangers
of drowning. The book contained a good methodical approach to learning breaststroke, and mentioned swimming
aids such as air filled cow bladders, reed bundles, and cork belts.
 In 1587, Everard Digby also wrote a swimming book, claiming that humans could swim better than fish. Digby was a
Senior Fellow at St. John's College, Cambridge and was interested in the scientific method. His short treatise, De
arte natandi, was written in Latin and contained over 40 woodcut illustrations depicting various methods of swimming,
including the breaststroke, backstroke and crawl. Digby regarded the breaststroke as the most useful form of
swimming.
 In 1603, Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan declared that schoolchildren should swim.
 In 1595, Christopher Middleton wrote "A short introduction for to learne to swimme", that was the first published guide
recording drawings and examples of different swimming styles.
 In 1696, the French author Melchisédech Thévenot wrote The Art of Swimming, describing a breaststroke very
similar to the modern breaststroke. This book was translated into English and became the standard reference of
swimming for many years to come.
  In 1793, GutsMuths from Schnepfenthal, Germany, wrote Gymnastik für die Jugend (Exercise for youth), including a
significant portion about swimming.
 In 1794, Kanonikus Oronzio de Bernardi of Italy wrote a two volume book about swimming, including floating practice
as a prerequisite for swimming studies.
 In 1798, GutsMuths wrote another book Kleines Lehrbuch der Schwimmkunst zum Selbstunterricht (Small study
book of the art of swimming for self-study), recommending the use of a "fishing rod" device to aid in the learning of
swimming. His books describe a three-step approach to learning to swim that is still used today. First, get the student
used to the water; second, practice the swimming movements out of the water; and third, practice the swimming
movements in the water. He believed that swimming is an essential part of every education.
 The Haloren, a group of salt makers in Halle, Germany, greatly advanced swimming through setting a good example
to others by teaching their children to swim at a very early age.
The Olympic Era
1873: John Trudgen invented the front crawl.
1896: The Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, a male-only competition. Six events were planned for the swimming
competition, but only four events were actually contested: 100 m, 500 m, and 1200 m freestyle and 100 m for sailors. The first
gold medal was won by Alfréd Hajós of Hungary in the 100 m freestyle. Hajós was also victorious in the 1200 m event, and
was unable to compete in the 500 m, which was won by Austrian Paul Neumann.
1900: The second Olympic games in Paris in 1900 featured 200 m, 1000 m, and 4000 m freestyle, 200 m backstroke, and a
200 m team race. There were two additional unusual swimming events (although common at the time): an obstacle
swimming course in the Seine river (swimming with the current), and an underwater swimming race. The 4000 m freestyle was
won by John Arthur Jarvis in under one hour, the longest Olympic swimming race until the 10k marathon swim was introduced
in 2008. The backstroke was also introduced to the Olympic Games in Paris, as was water polo.
1902: The Trudgen stroke was improved by Australian-born Richmond Cavill. Cavill, whose father Frederick Cavill narrowly
failed to swim the English Channel, is credited with developing the stroke after observing a young boy from the Solomon
Islands. Cavill and his brothers spread the Australian crawl to England, New Zealand and America. Richmond used this stroke
in 1902 at an International Championships in England to set a new world record by out swimming all Trudgen swimmers over
the 100 yards (91 m) in 0:58.4
1904: The Olympics in 1904 in St. Louis included races over 50 yards (46 m), 100 yards, 220 yards (200 m), 440 yards, 880
yards (800 m) and one mile (1.6 km) freestyle, 100 yards (91 m) backstroke and 440 yards (400 m) breaststroke, and the 4x50
yards freestyle relay (see also Swimming at the 1904 Summer Olympics). These games differentiated between breaststroke
and freestyle, so that there were now two defined styles (breaststroke and backstroke) and freestyle, where most people
swam Trudgen. These games also featured a competition to plunge for distance, where the distance without swimming, after
jumping in a pool, was measured.
In 1908, the world swimming association Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) was formed.
1912: Women were first allowed to swim in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, competing in freestyle races. Harry
Hebner of the United States won the 100 m backstroke. At these games Duke Kahanamoku from Hawaii  won the 100 m
freestyle, having learned the six kicks per cycle front crawl from older natives of his island. This style is now considered the
classical front crawl style. The men's competitions were 100 m, 400 m, and 1500 m freestyle, 100 m backstroke, 200 m and
400 m breaststroke, and four by 200 m freestyle relay. The women's competitions were 100 m freestyle and four by 100 m
freestyle relay.
1913: The Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft (DLRG) (German lifesaving organization) was established on October 19,
1913 in Leipzig after 17 people drowned while trying to board the cruise steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm. In the same year the first
elastic swimsuit was made by the sweater company Jantzen.
In 1922, Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to swim the 100 m in less than a minute, using a six kicks per
cycle Australian crawl. Johnny Weissmuller started the golden age of swimming, winning five Olympic medals and 36 national
championships and never losing a race in his ten-year career, until he retired from swimming and started his second career
starring as Tarzan in film. His record of 51 seconds in 100-yard (91 m) freestyle stood for over 17 years. In the same
year, Sybil Bauer was the first woman to break a men's world record over the 440 m backstroke in 6:24.8.
At the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, lane dividers made of cork were used for the first time, and lines on the pool bottom
aided with orientation. Johnny Weissmuller sets 67 world swimming records before becoming a Hollywood movie star.
1943; Two-piece swimsuits are introduced after wartime shortages prompt a 10% reduction in the amount of fabric used to
create swimsuits.
1956: The butterfly stroke was as event in the Olympics.
1976: Googles begin to be used for Olympic swimming competitions.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SWIMMING IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Filipinos needed motivation to appreciate swimming as a competitive sport. This is due to the fact that their ancestors
were sea-faring people owing to the more than 7,100 islands which compose this country. The American military men
introduced swimming as a comparative sport in the country.
Through the pioneering efforts of YMCA leaders working among the American Military forces, the rudiments of the sports were
impressed upon the Filipinos who saw in 1907 the construction of the first swimming pool in the country at Fort McKinley
YMCA.
The holding of the first dual swimming meet between Manila YMCA and the Fort McKinley YMCA in 1910 marked the formal
inception in the Philippines of swimming as a competitive sport. This initial competition among members of the defunct
Philippine Scouts of the US Army in the Philippines with the motive power of the YMCA which was later joined by the
American Columbian Club in the effort, kindled Filipino interest in the sport.
In 1911, Filipinos watched avidly from the sidelines as the first swimming championship meet was held at the American
Columbian Club swimming pool with competing American team from the Manila YMCA, the American Columbian Club, and
the USS Saratoga.
In the following year (1912), the Filipinos participated in the second championship meet. Of the 42 individual entries, the late
Condrado Benitez emerged as the most outstanding Filipino swimmer.
During the Far Eastern Games held at Manila in 1913, the Philippine Team composed of Condrado Benitez, J. del Pan, C.
Aiville and L. Cristobal won the championship against China and Japan.
The following decade, educational institutions, the first of which was the University of the Philippines, followed later on by the
Philippines Women's University, trained swimmers.
In 1924, Teofilo Yldefonso, a Philippine Scout soldier of the US Army won recognition as the greatest Filipino swimmer for his
feats in national championship meets, the Far East and Olympic Games. Muslims, Filipinos from Sulu also made names in
national championship competition. Great muslim swimmers before World War II were Jikirum Adjalludin, Arasad Alpad,
Tuburan, Angkang Nakaria and Asdai Tahil.
The succeeding years up to 1951 saw the staging of the sixth Formosa - Philippines Biennial-Swimming championship meets,
the 9th and 10th Far Eastern Games and the series of Manila-Hongkong Interport Swimming meets wherein Filipino men and
women swimmers showed outstanding performance. They were Sotero Alcantara, Rene Amabuyok, Edilberto Bonus, Jacinto
Cayco, Nulsali Maddin, Mahamad Mala, Eugenio Palileo, Artemio Salamat, Serafin Villanueva, Artemio Villavieja, Lourdes
Alba, Angela Fermin, Norma Guerrero, Andres Ofilada, Ana Labayan, Encarnacion Partilo and Erudito Vito.
Women swimmers competed in the 1931 National Women's Swimming Championship meet at the Rizal Memorial Pool where
the University of the Philippines won. The PWU Women's team won the championship in 1934. Women's participation in
swimming competitions were held yearly since then.
Swimming competitions were suspended during the Japanese occupation. It was only in 1948 when swimming competitions
were resumed. The first Asian games held in New Delhi in 1951 gave the Filipino swimmers the opportunity to participate once
again in international competition. Among the swimmers were Artemio Salamat, Jacinto Cayco and Nurhatab Rajab.
The second Asian games was held in Manila in 1954. Our swimmers who earned honors for our country were Parson Nabiula,
Amado Jimenez, Robert Cullins, Haydee Coloso, Norma Yldefonso, Sandra Von Geise, Lolita Ramirez, Corazon Cullen, Bana
Sailani, Agapito Lozada, Raul Badulis and Jacinto Cayco. The participants to the third Asian Games in Tokyo in 1958 brought
honors to the country. They were Bana Sailani, Walter Brown, Rodolfo Agustin, Lorenzo Cortez, Haydee Coloso, Gertrudes
Lozada, Sylvia Von Geise, Victoria Cagayat, and Jocelyn Von Geise.
The fourth Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia in 1962 marked another significant victory for the Filipino swimmers. They
placed second. The standouts were Haydee Espino, Gertrudes Lozada, Sampang Hassan, Rolando Landrito and Annurhussin
Hamsain.
Participation of Filipino swimmers continued. In 1962, the Federation System under Republic Act 3135 was inaugurated.
PASA launched a relatively-well-rounded and systematic program of development for the purpose of reinforcing the
Philippines against the challenges from other countries. The first age group overseas program was the Philippines-Hongkong
YMCA which started in 1968. From then on, Hongkong and Philippines is hosting alternately for this annual swim meet. This
program continued on until 1978.
In 1970, the First Asian Age Group was hosted by Singapore . This is the first age group swimming team sent by the
Philippine Amateur Swimming Association. Powerhouse Japan and China were included in this yearly swim event. There were
16 age groupers who represented the country. Philippines came in second behind host Singapore which had more swimmers
than any of the participating teams. The mere fact that we beat Japan and China at the time was an enormous feat for the
team. The asian age group went on until 1976. In 1977 the Southeast Asian (SEA) Age Group was born, hosted by
Singapore , and later on, the ASEAN.
With the leadership of Eduardo Ledesma and former national standouts like , Ral Rosario and Eric Buhain, PASA attained
remarkable progress in the development of swimming. Such projects as Regular Age Group Competitions, Coach to Coach
Program, Annual Summer Development Program, Olympic Development Swimming Program, Community Pools Construction
Program, Milo Learn to Swim Program and National Swimming Grand Prix were launched.
Today, a fresh start in Philippine Swimming is now unfolding with the creation of Aquatics Sports Association of the Philippines
(ASAP). ASAP is a non-stock, non-profit organization registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As stated in
its Articles of Incorporation, ASAP aims "to promote swimming and other aquatic sports throughout the country; and to recruit,
train and develop world-class athletes to represent our country in various international competitions." ASAP is headed by Atty.
Luz Arzaga-Mendoza as president, with Atty. Jane Ong as vice-president; Susan Papa, secretary; Beth Mascardo of
synchronized swimming, treasurer; Augusto Bonilla and Cesar Espino, trustees.
The swimming association is also strengthening its membership base and renewing its campaign for both individuals and
group to unite under the ASAP banner. It is now working on the education and certification of all local swim coaches and
instructors with the end in view of upgrading the quality of coaching in the Philippines. This will involve a series of level of
certification for those concerned in the different aspect of coaching.
At present, the ASAP leadership is committed to a policy of good governance and will be transparent in all its affairs, hiding
nothing and simply working towards the betterment of swimming in the country.
Swimming as a Competitive Sports
Swimming emerged as a competitive sport in the early 1800s in England. In 1828, the first indoor swimming pool, St George's
Baths, was opened to the public. By 1837, the National Swimming Society was holding regular swimming competitions in six
artificial swimming pools, built around London. The sport grew in popularity and by 1880, when the first national governing
body, the Amateur Swimming Association, was formed, there were already over 300 regional clubs in operation across the
country.
In 1844 a swimming competition was held in London with the participation of two Native Americans. The British competitor
used the traditional breaststroke, while the Native Americans swam a variant of the front crawl, which had been used by
people in the Americas for generations, but was not known to the British. The winning medal went to 'Flying Gull' who swam
the 130-foot length in 30 seconds – the Native American swimming method proved to be a much faster style than the British
breaststroke.  Times of London reported disapprovingly that the Native American stroke was an unrefined motion with the
arms "like a windmill" and the chaotic and unregulated kicking of the legs. The considerable splashing that the stroke caused
was deemed to be barbaric and "un-European" to the British gentlemen, who preferred to keep their heads over the water.
Subsequently, the British continued to swim only breaststroke until 1873. The British did, however, adapt the breaststroke into
the speedier sidestroke, where the swimmer lies to one side; this became the more popular choice by the late 1840s. In 1895,
J. H. Thayers of England swam 100 yards (91 m) in a record-breaking 1:02.50 using a sidestroke.
Sir John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-over stroke from South American natives he observed swimming on a trip
to Buenos Aires. On his return to England in 1868, he successfully debuted the new stroke in 1873 and won a local
competition in 1875. Although the new stroke was really the reintroduction of a more intuitive method for swimming, one that
had been in evidence in ancient cultures such as Ancient Assyria, his method revolutionized the state of competitive
swimming – his stroke is still regarded as the most powerful to use today.[10] In his stroke, the arms were brought forward,
alternating, while the body rolled from side to side. The kick was a scissors kick such as that familiarly used in breaststroke,
with one kick for two arm strokes, although it is believed that the Native Americans had indeed used a flutter kick. Front
crawl variants used different ratios of scissor kicks to arm strokes, or alternated with a flutter (up-and-down) kick. The speed of
the new stroke was demonstrated by F.V.C. Lane in 1901, swimming 100 yards (91 m) in 1:00.0, an improvement of about ten
seconds compared to the breaststroke record. Due to its speed the Trudgen became very quickly popular around the world,
despite all the ungentleman-like splashing.
Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875. He used
breaststroke, swimming 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the
next 36 years, until Bill Burgess made the crossing in 1911. Other European countries also established swimming
federations; Germany in 1882, France in 1890 and Hungary in 1896. The first European amateur swimming competitions were
in 1889 in Vienna. The world's first women's swimming championship was held in Scotland in 1892.
Nancy Edberg popularized women's swimming in Stockholm from 1847. She made swimming lessons accessible for both
genders and later introduced swimming lessons for women in Denmark and Norway. Her public swimming exhibitions from
1856 with her students were likely among the first public exhibitions of women swimming in Europe.
In 1896, swimming was a part of the first ever Modern Olympic Games.
In 1897, Capt. Henry Sheffield designed a rescue can or rescue cylinder, now well known as the lifesaving device. The
pointed ends made it slide faster through the water, although it can cause injuries.

Swimming Innovation
The scientific study of swimming began in 1928 with David Armbruster, a coach at the University of Iowa, who filmed
swimmers underwater. The Japanese also used underwater photography to research the stroke mechanics, and subsequently
dominated the 1932 Summer Olympics. Armbruster also researched a problem of breaststroke where the swimmer was
slowed down significantly while bringing the arms forward underwater. In 1934 Armbruster refined a method to bring the arms
forward over water in breaststroke. While this "butterfly" technique was difficult, it brought a great improvement in speed. One
year later, in 1935, Jack Sieg, a swimmer also from the University of Iowa developed a technique involving swimming on his
side and beating his legs in unison similar to a fish tail, and modified the technique afterward to swim it face down. Armbruster
and Sieg combined these techniques into a variant of the breaststroke called butterfly with the two kicks per cycle being called
dolphin fishtail kick. Using this technique Sieg swam 100 yards (91 m) in 1:00.2. However, even though this technique was
much faster than regular breaststroke, the dolphin fishtail kick violated the rules and was not allowed. Therefore, the butterfly
arms with a breaststroke kick were used by a few swimmers in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin for the breaststroke
competitions. In 1938, almost every breaststroke swimmer was using this butterfly style, yet this stroke was considered a
variant of the breaststroke until 1952, when it was accepted as a separate style with a set of rules.
Around that time another modification to the backstroke became popular. Previously, the arms were held straight during the
underwater push phase, for example by the top backstroke swimmer from 1935 to 1945, Adolph Kiefer. However, Australian
swimmers developed a technique where the arms are bent under water, increasing the horizontal push and the resulting
speed and reducing the wasted force upward and sideways. This style is now generally used worldwide.
In 1935 topless swimsuits for men were worn for the first time during an official competition. In 1943, the US ordered the
reduction of fabric in swimsuits by 10% due to wartime shortages, resulting in the first two piece swimsuits. Shortly afterwards
the bikini was invented in Paris by Louis Reard (officially) or Jacques Heim (earlier, but slightly larger).
The 1956 Games in Melbourne also saw the introduction of the flip turn, a sort of tumble turn to faster change directions at the
end of the lane.
In 1972, another famous swimmer, Mark Spitz, was at the height of his career. During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich,
Germany, he won seven gold medals. Shortly thereafter in 1973, the first swimming world championship was held
in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by the FINA.
In 1988, The backstroke rules were quickly changed in the same year by the FINA to ensure the health and safety of the
swimmers, limiting the underwater phase after the start to ten meters, which was expanded to 15 m in 1991.
1964, electronic timings were used in the Olympic Games.
In summary, swimming innovations are still used today like the use of an electronic beep to indicate the start of the race.
Cameras are used in competitive swimming for training and competition purposes. High speed photography and videography
are both used today as secondary race finish recording devices. As time went on and technology developed, stop watches
were invented being manually started and stopped. Starter blocks have allowed swimmers to have a cleaner, more effective
dive and many start blocks have an additional back panel at a greater angle to allow athletes to push off with his/her back foot
helping them have maximal power into the water. Many different elements of swimming have been advanced and have vastly
improved interest and participation in the sport and that is because of technology that helped in the advancement and
improvement of swimming as a recreation and for competition purposes.

Sources: https://sportsregras.com/en/swimming-history-rules/

https://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_History_of_swimming_in_the_Philippines

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