-
First Competition
The first swim competition was held in London -
Beginning for Female swimmers
Nancy Edberg popularized women's swimming in Stockholm from 1847. She made swimming lessons accessible for both genders and later introduced swimming lessons for women in Denmark and Norway.[11] Her public swimming exhibitions from 1856 with her students were likely among the first public exhibitions of women swimming in Europe -
First Olympic Games
The Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, a male-only competition. Six events were planned for the swimming competition, 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 Alfréd Hajós of Hungary in the 100 m freestyle. Hajós was also victorious in the 1200 m event, and was unable to compete in the 500 m, which was won by Austrian Paul Neumann. -
FINA
In 1908, the world swimming association Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA) was formed. -
Women in swimming
Women first compete in the Olympics in swimming -
Period: to
Addition and research of swim strokes
The filming of strokes led to stroke mechanics being refined and the addition of kicking and stroke pulling in butterfly -
Swimsuit upgrade
Topless swimsuits for men were worn for the first time during an official competition. -
Mark Spitz
Mark Spitz wins 7 gold medals in the 1972 olympics -
Goggles
Goggles Used in competitive swimming -
Kristin Otto
A swimmer from East Germany won six gold medals, the most ever won by a woman. -
Period: to
Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps starts his Olympic career in Sydney and goes onto win 8 gold medals in 2008 in Beijing, set multiple American, Olympic and World records until 2016 when he announced retirement... for the second time