Буклет на тему «Swimming»

Swimming has been known since ancient times: depictions of swimmers are found in Stone Age monuments. As a sport, it took shape in the 19th century in England.

• In 1837, the first swimming organization appeared in London, and in 1896, this sport was included in the program of the first modern Olympic Games.

• Women first competed in Olympic swimming in 1912 in Stockholm; at that time, the program included the 100‑meter freestyle and the 4×100‑meter freestyle relay.

In competitive swimming, movements are practiced using four main styles.

• The freestyle is most often performed using the front crawl; it is considered the fastest and is used for the longest distances.

• Breaststroke is recognized by the simultaneous symmetrical movements of the arms and legs.

• Backstroke is when the person swims face up.

• Butterfly is the most difficult style in terms of coordination: the arms are moved simultaneously above the water, and the legs perform a wave‑like movement.

At the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, swimming competitions were held not in a pool, but in the sea. The start and finish were organized right in the open water, and this was very different from the lanes and turns that are familiar today.

Swimming competitions are held in short and long water. In a modern pool, the length of the lane is usually 50 or 25 meters.

• In addition to individual races, there are relays and medley swimming, where the athlete uses several styles in succession.

• Individual distances are measured in meters: there are races of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1500 meters.

• Major tournaments also feature open‑water swims; this is a separate discipline with a different distance and conditions.

Swimming became part of the Olympic Games in 1896 and has been included in the program of all Summer Olympics since then.

• In 1912, women’s starts were added to the Olympic program, and later new types of relays and medley swims appeared.

• In the 1940s, the butterfly stroke emerged from the breaststroke technique: at first it was considered a variant of breaststroke, and then it was recognized as a separate style.

• Today, international competitions use uniform rules that define the start, turns, order of completing the course, and the technique for each style.