OPENDO REYES, DIANA M. SEPT.

4,2021
BSCRIM 5A

Swimming was necessary in prehistoric times to cross rivers and lakes, as

illustrated by ancient Egyptian cave paintings depicting swimmers. Swimming was also
a part of martial training in Greece and Rome, and also a part of male basic education.
During the Middle Ages in Europe, swimming is feared by the locals. The explanation
for this is that the locals believe that swimming spread infections and caused
epidemics. In Japan, swimming was apparently learnt by children about the same time
they learned to walk, or perhaps before they began to walk. Swimming was made
obligatory in schools by an imperial edict in the seventeenth century. Swimming
competitions were also held in the nineteenth century, before Japan was opened to the
rest of the world.
Today, swimming is not just a recognized sport, but it has also grown in
popularity as a recreational activity. Pools can be found in hotels, apartment buildings,
condominiums, commercial operations, schools, and universities, and several other
places. Swimming’s purpose moved from being a necessity for survival to a recognized
sport and, later, a leisure activity with the emergence of pastimes like water skiing,
snorkeling, and water polo.