History of Swimming
     • Competitive swimming is as old as 36 BC
     • Japanese held the first known swimming 
       races
     • Earliest published writing on swimming 
       was in 1538, written by Nicolas Wynman
     • English- considered the first modern 
                            
       society to develop swimming as a sport
                    History cont.
     • First municipal pool in the U.S. was built in 
       Massachusetts in 1887
     • Plato considered a man who didn’t know 
       how to swim uneducated
     • Julius Caesar and Charlemagne were 
       known as great swimmers
     • By 1837, regular swimming competitions 
       were being held in London
                              
                 History cont. 
    • Amateur Swimming Association of 
      Great Britain was organized in 1880
    • August 24, 1875, Captain Matthew 
      Webb became the first man to swim the 
      English Channel
                           
                                  The Pool
        •  Long course racing pool- 50 meters
        •  Short course racing pool- 25 meters
        •  Competitive pool has a minimum of 8 racing lanes
            – each lane must be7-9 feet wide
        •  The pool must be at least 4 feet deep
        •  The water temperature must be between 78 and 80 
           degrees Fahrenheit
        •  The front of the starting block must be 30 inches 
           above the surface of the water
                                             
                    The Meet
     • 14 individual events
     • 3 relays
     • Olympics- there are only 13 
       individual events and 3 relays
     • Men do not swim 800 meter freestyle 
       in the Olympics and women do not 
       swim 1500 meter freestyle