Swimming

Nov. 12, 2012
HISTORY OF SWIMMING
1800-Competitive swimming was first introduced in the early 1800′s in Britain by the National Swimming Society. At that time, there were man-made indoor pools in London and the National Swimming Society of England used them for swimming competitions. These events became popular in England and led to the formation of the Amateur Swimming Association in 1880.
1873-The swimming strokes used in this time period were the side stroke and the breast stroke. In 1873 John Trudgen introduced the front crawl to Britain used with a scissor or flutter kick. This enhanced speeds and made swimming competitions new and exciting. Improvements to the front crawl, either by different kicks or different ratios of kicks to strokes, resulted in the fastest swimming style known today, now called the freestyle stroke.
1896-In 1896 the Olympic Games were held in Greece in the city of Athens. Swimming was included and there were four swimming contests held. They were: 100 m, 100 m for sailors, the 500 m and the 1200 m competitions. Hungary’s Alfred Hajos won the first gold medal in the history of swimming in the 100 m freestyle and the 1200 m race. Paul Neumann from Austria won the 500 m event. A Greek sailor named Ioannis Malokinis won the 100 m for sailors.
1900-In 1900 the Olympic Games were held in Paris, France and had the 200 m, 1000 m and 4000 m and 200 m backstroke and a 200 m relay race. The Paris Games also had an underwater and a swimming against the current races. The 4000 m freestyle race was won by British swimmer John Jarvis. The 4000 m event was the longest swimming competition event ever held in the history of swimming. The backstroke was used in the Olympics in the sport of water polo, for the first time.
1904-In 1904 the Olympic Games in St Louis, Missouri, held the 50 yards (46 m), 100 yards, 220 yards (200 m), 440 yards, 880 yards (800 m) and one mile (1.6 km) freestyle; 100 yards (91 m) backstroke and 440 yards (400 m) breaststroke; and the 4 × 50 yards freestyle relay. In the history of swimming, this was the first time that the Olympics specified if an event was freestyle or breaststroke.
1908-In 1908 the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA), which is the world’s first swimming association, was formed.
1912-In 1912 at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, women swam competitively for the first time. Women’s races were held in the 100 m freestyle and the 100 m freestyle relay. The men’s events were the 100 m, 400 m, and 1500 m freestyle; 100 m backstroke; 200 m and 400 m breaststroke; and a 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. This was a milestone Olympic Games for swimming. Women were being allowed to compete for the first time in the history of swimming, and men had an extensive list of competitive races that were held.
1922-In 1922, Johnny Weissmuller became the first person to swim 100 m in under a minute. Weissmuller went on to win five Olympic medals and 36 national championships, igniting an interest in competitive swimming that was never seen before. Weissmuller never lost a race over a career spanning ten years. His record of 51 seconds in the 100 yard freestyle event was unbroken for the next 17 years. He later garnered Hollywood fame as the star of numerous Tarzan films. Also in 1922, female swimmer Sybil Bauer was the first woman to break the men’s 440 m backstroke record. Competitive swimming went to the forefront of sports due to these record-breaking feats.
1972-Mark Spitz in 1972 broke all records in the history of swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics and won seven gold medals. Spitz was a phenomenal swimmer and won a total of 9 Olympic gold medals, a silver, a bronze, five Pan Am golds, 31 other amateur titles, and 8 college titles. He accumulated this impressive total of titles between the years of 1968–1972. Spitz, at the 1972 Olympics, broke world records in each of the seven events he won gold medals.
Competitive swimming has not seen the likes of Spitz until Michael Phelps. As of this date, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals. Phelps won six gold and two bronze medals in 2004 in Athens. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics he won eight gold medals. With these accomplishments, Phelps has twice tied with a total record of eight gold medals at one Olympics.
The history of swimming has been a documented and varied one. From the sidestroke to the current freestyle strokes, swimming has, and continues to be, an exciting and ever-evolving sport.

SOURCE: http://www.athleticscholarships.net/history-of-swimming.htm