Swimming is both a casual activity and a serious sport. To you, swimming may involve splashing through the waves across a public pool. Olympic athletes, on the other hand, swim distances as far as 1500 meters at unbelievable speeds.
Swimming is an Olympic modality since the first Games of the modern era and since then the export has evolved greatly and has had different champions and records achieved. As an adjective, swimming describes anything that swims or that's used for swimming, like a swimming hole.
History of Swimming
Swimming activity has been around for thousands of years. There are engravings that show people in the middle of the water supposed to swim, taking as date 7000 AC. In ancient Greece, swimming has become a prerequisite for becoming a soldier so that they can improve their fitness.
Organized swimming began in the 1800s and 1900s with the creation of swimming associations (for example, the Amateur Swimming Association in 1886) and clubs that competed against each other. There are reports from that era of swimming clubs in England, France, Germany, and the United States. High-profile events also contributed to swimming's visibility. For instance, Matthew Webb swam the English Channel in 1875.
By the 20th century, swimming had become mainstream. Indoor pools were beginning to appear, most towns with populations over 20,000 had public outdoor pools, and swimming clubs became increasingly popular for recreation. Women participated in swimming in the Olympic Games.
Types of Swimming
Breaststroke
This is considered the oldest style there is. It consists of the athlete being with the chest facing down and making a movement where he pushes the two arms forward at the same time and then opens them, simultaneously doing the same with the legs. The easiest way to understand it is to imagine open and closing scissors.
The distances covered are:
50 meters
100 meters
200 meters
Crawl
In the Crawl, the swimmer is face down and makes a circular movement with the arms, alternating the left with the right, almost like two propellers. The legs also make a synchronized up / down movement alternately.
The distances covered are:
50 meters
100 meters
200 meters
400 meters
800 meters
1500 meters
Backstroke
This style has everything equal to that of the crawl in movements of arms and legs, having only the peculiarity of being done on the back (the sweep facing upwards).
The distances covered are:
50 meters
100 meters
200 meters
Butterfly
Here the athlete is boosted by using both arms simultaneously, almost like the movement of diving. The feet stand together and make a simultaneous up-and-down movement, similar to a dolphin’s fin.
The distances covered are:
50 meters
100 meters
200 meters
Rules of Swimming
1. Referee: Responsible for developing the race and having the final say on any decision. There are 2, one for men and one for women.
2. Judge of Departure: This is what signals the game with an electronic signal. Here also exist 2, one for each genre,
3. Judges of Swim: There are 4 per race, 2 on each side of the pool, and will accompany the swimmers by the pool to check if they are to swim properly in the style, without errors or flaws.
4. Judges of the Revolution: There are 16 per race, each one near one end of the swimmer’s lane (there are 8 tracks) to see if this one turns well.
5. Scorer: This is in a special room to take care of the results that show in the electronic markers and the indications of the judges.
6. False exit rope judge: Responsible for the rope that is located 15 meters from the edge of the pool and that marks the place where the swimmer already has to be at the top of the water. If any of them do not meet this requirement at the start then the rope falls into the water and is started again.
