History of Swimming

Ever since the stone ages, swimming has been around as a past time and a competitive activity. With multiple accomplishments and advances in stroke technique and suit technology, swimming has come very far since the cavemen. 

Some of the earliest references to swimming were in 2000 B.C. In 1800, competitive swimming began in Europe (swimming mainly breaststroke). In 1896, swimming was a part of the first Olympic Games in Athens (men only).  In 1912, women were first allowed to swim in the Olympic Games. Jump ahead to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing; Michael Phelps took home 8 gold medals in swimming. As you can see, the sport of swimming has had a long, proud history. (P.S. this is NOT a history lesson!!)

Each stroke and technique in itself has changed and evolved over time. The freestyle kick for example was created due to the British dislike of splashing. Butterfly, a variation of breaststroke, was developed by a University of Iowa swimmer, Jack Sieg, in 1935.

Stroke turns have been another large part of history in swimming. Each turn can affect whether you win the race, or lose the race. Turns have been modified and tweaked so that each swimmer can get on the wall and off the wall in less than 2 seconds.

Swimming is a not a sport that was invented recently. This sport has continued to grow and change for thousands of years.