History
of Swimming
Swimming
has been known since prehistoric times. Drawings from the
Stone Age were found in "the cave of
swimmers" near Wadi Sora (or Sura) in the southwestern
part of Egypt. Written references date from 2000 BCE, including
Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible (Ezekiel 47:5,
Acts 27:42, Isaiah 25:11), Beowulf, and other sagas. In
1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German professor of languages,
wrote the first swimming book, The Swimmer; or, A Dialogue
on the Art of Swimming (Der Schwimmer oder ein Zwiegespräch über
die Schwimmkunst). Competitive swimming in Europe started
around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. The front crawl,
then called the trudgen, was introduced in 1873 by John
Arthur Trudgen, copying it from Native Americans. Swimming
was part of the first modern Olympic games in 1896 in Athens.
In 1902 the trudgen was improved by Richard Cavill, using
the flutter kick. In 1908, the world swimming association,
Federation Internationale de Natation de Amateur (FINA),
was formed. Butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was
at first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted
as a separate style in 1952.
Ancient
times
Drawings from the Stone Age were found in "the cave of swimmers" near
Wadi Sora (or Sura) in the southwestern part of Egypt near Libya. These pictures
seem to show breaststroke or dog paddle, although it may also be possible that
the movements have a ritual meaning unrelated to swimming. This cave is also
featured in the movie The English Patient. An Egyptian clay seal dated between
4000 BCE and 9000 BCE shows four swimmers who are believed to be swimming a variant
of the front crawl. More references to swimming are found in Babylonian bas-reliefs
and Assyrian wall drawings, depicting a variant of the breaststroke. The most
famous drawings were found in the Kebir desert and are estimated to be from around
4000 BCE The Nagoda bas-relief also shows swimmers dating back from 3000 BCE
The Indian palace Mohenjo Daro from 2800 BCE contains a swimming pool sized 30
m by 60 m. The Minoan palace Minos of Knossos in Crete also featured baths. An
Egyptian tomb from 2000 BCE shows a variant of the front crawl. Depictions of
swimmers were also found from the Hittites, Minoans, and other Middle Eastern
civilizations, the Maya in the Tepantitla House at Teotihuacan, and in mosaics
in Pompeii.
Written references date
back to 2000 BCE including 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.
The Greeks did not include
swimming in the ancient Olympic Games, but practiced the sport,
often building swimming pools as part of their baths. One common
insult in Greece was to say about somebody that he/she neither
knew how to run nor swim. Swimming is an integral part of the tale
of Hero and Leander and of the 7th-century poet Arion. The Etruscans
at Tarquinia (Italy) show pictures of swimmers in 600 BCE, and
tombs in Greece depict swimmers 500 BCE. The Greek Scyllis was
taken prisoner on a ship of the Persian king Xerxes I in 480 BCE.
After learning about an impending attack on the Greek navy, he
stole a knife and jumped overboard. During the night and using
a snorkel made from reed, he swam back to the ships and cut them
loose. It was also said that the ability to swim saved the Greeks
at the Battle of Salamis, while the Persians all drowned when their
ships were destroyed. In the ancient Rome, swimming was considered
a healthy practice, and swimming races were held in the Tiber River.
Julius Caesar himself was known to be a good swimmer.
A series of reliefs from
850 BCE in the Nimrud Gallery of the British Museum show swimmers,
mostly in military context, often using swimming aids.
In Japan swimming was
one of the noble skills of the Samurai, and historic records describe
swimming competitions in 36 BCE organized by emperor Suigui (spelling
unclear), which are the first known swimming races.
The Germanic folklore
describes swimming, which was used successfully in wars against
the Romans. Swimming competitions are also known from that time.
Middle
Ages to 1800
Swimming was initially one of the seven agilities of knights during the Middle
Ages, including swimming with armour. However, as swimming was done in a state
of undress, it became less popular as society became more conservative in the
early Modern period. For example, in the 16th century, a German court document
in the Vechta prohibited the naked public swimming of children. Leonardo da
Vinci made early sketches of lifebelts.
In 1538 Nicolas Wynman,
German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book Colymbetes.
His goal was not exercise, but rather to reduce the dangers of
drowning. Nevertheless, the book contained a very good and methodical
approach to learning breaststroke, and includes swimming aids like
air filled cow bladders, reed bundles, or cork belts. Around the
same time, E. Digby in England also wrote a swimming book, claiming
that humans can swim better than fish. In 1603 the first national
swimming organization was established in Japan. Emperor Go-Yozei
of Japan declared that school children should swim.
In 1696, the French author
Melchisédech Thévenot (1620 or 1621 to 1692) 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, and was read by Benjamin Franklin. In 1708, the first known
lifesaving group "Chinkiang Association for the Saving of
Life" was established in China. Benjamin Franklin is credited
with the invention of the swimming fins at the age of ten, in 1716.
In 1739 Guts Muts (also spelled as Guts Muth) from Schnepfenthal,
Germany, wrote "Gymnastik für die Jugend" (Exercise
for the 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 Guts Muts 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 learn
swimming that is still used today. First, get the student used
to the water, second, practice the swimming movements out of the
water, third, practice the swimming movements in the water. He
believed that swimming is an essential part of every education.
More lifesaving groups were established in 1767 (1768?) in Amsterdam
by the Dutch, 1772 in Copenhagen, and in 1774 by Great Britain.
In 1768 a humane society was established in the United States.
In 1796, a (still existing) swimming club, the Upsala Simsällskap,
was founded in Uppsala, Sweden. The Haloren, a group of salt makers
in Halle, Germany, greatly advanced swimming through setting a
good example to others by teaching their children swimming at a
very early age.
The
Pre-Olympic Era to 1896
In 1804 the lifebelt was invented by W. H. Mallison (America?), the device
being known at that time as the "Seaman’s Friend". However,
the lifebelts took up valuable space on ships, and the United States Navy was
worried about the devices being used by sailors to desert.
The first German
swimming club was founded in 1837 in Berlin. A journal mentions "swimming
skates" in France, which may be an early version of a surfboard.
One watershed
event was a swimming competition in 1844 in London. Some Native
Americans participated in this competition. While the British raced
using breaststroke, the Native Americans swam a variant of the
front crawl, which has been used by people in the Americas, West
Africa and some Pacific islands for generations, but was not known
to the British. As the front crawl is a much faster style than
the breaststroke, the Americans won against the British competition.
Flying Gull won the medal, swimming the 130 feet in 30 seconds;
the second place was also won by another American named Tobacco.
Their stroke was described as making a motion with the arms "like
a windmill" and kicking the legs up and down. As this produced
considerable splashing, it was considered 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 first indoor
swimming pool was built in England in 1862. An Amateur Swimming
Association of Great Britain was organized in 1880 with more than
300 members. The main swimming styles were the breaststroke and
the recently developed side stroke. In the sidestroke, the swimmer
lies on one side. Initially, the arms were brought forward under
water, but this was soon modified to bring the arm forward over
water to reduce resistance and to improve the speed, resulting
in an overarm sidestroke. The legs were squeezed together in a
scissor style. In 1895, J. H. Thayers of England swam 100 yards
in a record-breaking 1:02.50 using a sidestroke.
In 1873 John
Arthur Trudgen reintroduced the front crawl to England. Trudgen
learned the stroke from Native Americans during a trip to South
America (the exact date, however, is disputed and may be anywhere
between 1870 and 1890). This stroke, a variant of the front crawl,
was then called the Trudgen or Trudgeon. The arms were brought
forward, alternating while the body rolled from side to side. The
kick was a scissors kick, with one kick for two arm strokes, although
it is believed that the Native Americans did indeed do a flutter
kick and Trudgen mistakenly used the (in Britain) more common breaststroke
kick. 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 in 1:00.0, an improvement of about ten seconds compared to
the breaststroke record. This style is the first European version
of the front crawl, the fastest swimming style known today. Due
to its speed the Trudgen became very quickly popular around the
world, despite all the ungentlemanlike 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
in 21 hours and 45 minutes. No other man or woman swam the channel
for the next 31 years. He died in 1882 while attempting to swim
the Niagara Falls. The first European amateur swimming competitions
were in 1889 in Vienna.
In 1879 King
Ludwig II of Bavaria built a swimming pool in castle Linderhof.
This is believed to be the first artificial wave pool and also
featured electrically heated water and light.
Synchronized
swimming started in the late 19th century, and the first competition
was in 1891 in Berlin, a men's-only event.
The Modern Olympic Era after 1896
The Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, a male-only competition (see
also Swimming at the 1896 Summer Olympics). Six events were planned, 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 Alfred Hajos of Hungary
in 1:22.20 for the 100 m freestyle. Hajos was also victorious in the 1200 m
event, and was unable to compete in the 500 m, which was won by Austrian Paul
Neumann. Another swimming competition of 100 m for sailors included three Greek
sailors in Bay of Zea near Piraeus, starting from a rowing boat. The winner
was Ioannis Malokinis in two minutes and 20 seconds. A 1500 m race was also
performed.
In 1897 Capt.
Henry Sheffield designed a rescue can or rescue cylinder, now well
known as the lifesaving device in Baywatch. The pointed ends made
it slide faster through the water, although it can cause injuries.
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 (see also Swimming at the
1900 Summer Olympics). 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 ever. The
backstroke was also introduced to the Olympic games in Paris, as
was water polo. The Osborne Swimming Club from Manchester beat
club teams from Belgium, France and Germany quite easily.
The Trudgen was
improved by Australia born Richmod Cavill (born Sydney 1884). Cavill,
whose father Frederick Cavill, narrowly failed to swim the English
Channel, is credited with developing the stroke by observing a
young boy from the Solomon Island, Alick Wickham. Cavill and his
brothers: Sydney, Charles, Arthur, Ernest and Percy were all champion
swimmers and formed arguably the great swimming dynasty. They spread
the Australian crawl to England, New Zealand and America. Richmond
or Dick as he was better known used this stroke in 1902 at an International
Championships in England to set a new world record by outswimming
all Trudgen swimmers over the 100 yards in 0:58.4 (References:
Davis and E.S. Marks Sporting Collections, Mitchell Library, Sydney;
Clarkson, A. Lanes of Gold. 100 Years of the NSW Amateur Swimming
Association, Lester-Townsend, 1990; Osmond, G. and Phillips, M. ‘The
Bloke with a Stroke. Alickham, the “Crawl” and Social
Memory, The Journal of Pacific History, Vol. 39, No. 3, 2004: Delany,
B. ‘The Legendary Cavills’, A.M., 19 January 1954,
pp. 36 – 39)
The Olympics
in 1904 in St. Louis included races over 50 yards, 100 yards, 220
yards, 440 yards, 880 yards and one mile freestyle, 100 yards backstroke
and 440 yards 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 1907 the swimmer
Annette Kellerman from Australia visited the United States as an "Underwater
Ballerina", a version of Synchronized swimming, diving into
glass tanks. She was arrested for indecent exposure, as her swimsuit
showed arms, legs and the neck. Kellerman changed the suit to have
long arms and legs, and a collar, still keeping the close fit revealing
the shapes underneath. She later starred in several movies, including
one about her life.
In 1908, the
world swimming association Federation Internationale de Natation
de Amateur (FINA) was formed.
Women were first
allowed to swim in the Olympic Games in 1912 in Stockholm, competing
in freestyle races. (Women could participate in golf and tennis
since 1900 in Paris). In the 1912 games, 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.
On 28 July 1912,
an 800 m long pier in Binz on the island of Rügen, Germany
collapsed under the load of 1000 people waiting for the cruise
steamer Kronprinz Wilhelm. Sailors of the German navy were able
to save most people, but 17 people died because they could not
swim, including seven children. This catastrophe caused the foundation
of the Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft (DLRG) (German lifesaving
organization) on October 19 1913 in Leipzig. 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 and was the world's
most famous swimmer, 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 as Tarzan.
His record of 51 seconds in 100 yard 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.
1928 was the
start of the scientific study of swimming by David Armbruster,
coach at the University of Iowa, filming underwater swimmers. 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 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
thereafter the Bikini was invented in Paris by Louis Reard (officially)
or Jacques Heim (earlier, but slightly larger).
Another modification
was developed for breaststroke. In breaststroke, breaking the water
surface increases the friction, reducing the speed of the swimmer.
Therefore, swimming underwater increases the speed. This led to
a controversy at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and six
swimmers were disqualified, as they repeatedly swam long distances
underwater between surfacing to breathe. The rule was changed to
require breaststroke to be swum at the surface starting with the
first surfacing after the start and after each turn. However, one
Japanese swimmer, Masaru Furukawa, circumvented the rule by not
surfacing at all after the start, but swimming as much of the lane
under water as possible before breaking the surface. He swam all
but 5 m under water for the first three 50 m laps, and also swam
half under water for the last lap, winning the gold medal. The
adoption of this technique led to many swimmers suffering from
oxygen starvation or even some swimmers passing out during the
race due to a lack of air, and a new breaststroke rule was introduced
by the FINA, additionally limiting the distance that can be swum
under water after the start and every turn, and requiring the head
to break the surface every cycle. The 1956 games in Melbourne also
saw the introduction of the body roll, 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, more than any other Olympic athlete has ever won. Shortly
thereafter in 1973, the first swimming world cup was held in Belgrade,
Yugoslavia by the FINA.
Breaking the
water surface reduces the speed in swimming; this is true not only
for breaststroke, but also for backstroke. The swimmers Daichi
Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (America) used this for the 100
m backstroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Berkoff swam
33 m of the first lane completely underwater using only a dolphin
kick, surfacing just before the turn, far ahead of his competition.
A sports commentator called this a Berkoff Blastoff. Suzuki, having
practiced the underwater technique for 10 years, surfaced only
a little bit earlier, winning the race in 0:55.05. At that time,
this was not restricted by FINA backstroke rules. 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. In Seoul, Kristin Otto from East Germany won six gold
medals, the most ever won by a woman.
Another innovation
is the use of forward tumble turns for backstroke. According to
the rules, a backstroke swimmer had to touch the wall while lying
less than 90 degrees out of the horizontal. Some swimmers discovered
that they could turn faster if they rolled almost 90 degrees sideways,
touched the wall, and made a forward tumble turn, pushing off the
wall on their backs. The FINA has changed the rules to allow the
swimmers to turn over completely before touching the wall to simplify
this turn and to improve the speed of the races.
In 1998 Benoît
Lecomte swam across the Atlantic Ocean, a total of 5,600 kilometres
in 72 days, swimming 6 to 8 hours daily. He was accompanied by
two sailors on a sailboat.
After underwater
swimming for breaststroke and backstroke, the underwater swimming
technique is now also used for butterfly, in which swimmers go
large distances underwater with a dolphin kick. In 1998 FINA introduced
a rule limiting swimmers to 15 meters underwater before they must
start swimming at the surface.
History of swimming. (2007, February 4). In Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 02:38, February 9, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_swimming&oldid=105498164
Copyright (c) Wikipedia.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU
Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. |
