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Oct 7, 2024 · History. Archaeological and other evidence shows swimming to have been practiced as early as 2500 bce in Egypt and thereafter in Assyrian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. In Greece and Rome swimming was a part of martial training and was, with the alphabet, also part of elementary education for males.
swimming, In recreation and sports, the propulsion of the body through water by combined arm and leg motions. Swimming is popular as an all-around fitness routine and as a competitive sport. It has been included in the modern Olympic Games since their inception in 1896.
Oct 7, 2024 · The first type of distance swimming to be regulated by FINA was English Channel swimming, which captured the popular imagination in the second half of the 19th century. Captain Matthew Webb of Great Britain was the first to make the crossing from Dover , England, to Calais , France , in 1875; his time was 21 hours 45 minutes.
In England a meeting of swimming clubs in 1869 led to the creation of the Amateur Swimming Association. It became Great Britain’s governing body of sport swimming. The Amateur Athletic Union, founded in 1888, governs swimming in the United States.
artistic swimming, exhibition swimming in which the movements of one or more swimmers are synchronized with musical accompaniment. The sport developed in the United States in the 1930s. The sport’s governing body replaced the name synchronized swimming with artistic swimming in 2017.
The freestyle is perhaps the most popular swimming stroke, used in both competition and recreational swimming. It is performed by using an alternating overarm motion combined with a flutter kick. The freestyle has become the fastest of all strokes in the pool and is also the almost unanimous stroke of choice for distance swimming.
The backstroke is a competition stroke, but it is also used in recreational swimming as a rest from other strokes, frequently with minimal arm motion and only enough kick to maintain forward motion. It is the third fastest of the four main strokes and is likened to an upside-down freestyle. History and competition
Michael Phelps is an American swimmer, who is the most-decorated athlete in Olympic history with 28 medals, which include a record 23 gold. At the 2008 Games in Beijing, he became the first athlete to win eight gold medals at a single Olympics. Learn more about Phelps’s life and career.
Nov 11, 2024 · Sports are physical contests pursued for the goals and challenges they entail. Popular sports include football (soccer), gridiron football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey, field hockey, cricket, tennis, rugby, and golf. Learn more about the development and history of sports in this article.
6 days ago · The history of the Olympics: From ancient Greece to now The first Olympic Games consisted of a singular event: a footrace. (more) See all videos for this article
