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Jan 14, 1200
Original of swimming
10,000-year-old rock paintings of people swimming were found in the Cave of Swimmers near Wadi Sura in southwestern Egypt.
Written references date back to ancient times, with the earliest as early as 2000 BC. -
Period: Jan 14, 1200 to
Ancient Times
10,000-year-old rock paintings of people swimming were found in the Cave of Swimmers near Wadi Sura in southwestern Egypt. -
Moern Early swimming
Leonardo da Vinci made early sketches of lifebelts. In 1539, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book Colymbetes. His purpose was to reduce the dangers of drowning. The book contained a good methodical approach to learning breaststroke, and mentioned swimming aids such as air filled cow bladders, reed bundles, and cork belts -
Olympic Era
he 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 100m freestyle. Hajós was also victorious in the 1200m event, and was unable to compete in the 500 m, which was won by Austrian Paul Neumann. -
Swimmin Innovation
The scientific study of swimming began in 1928 with David Armbruster, a coach at the University of Iowa, who filmed swimmers underwater.[citation needed] 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. -
Swimming Innovation2
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. Shortly thereafter in 1973, the first swimming world championship was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia by the FINA.
