The History of Swimming

Swimming has been known since prehistoric times. Drawings from the Stone Age were found in "the
cave of swimmers" near Wadi Sora (or Sura) in the southwestern part of Egypt. Written references
date from 2000 B.C., including Gilgamesh, the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Bible (Ezekiel 47:5, Acts 27:42,
Isaiah 25:11), Beowulf, and other sagas. In 1538 Nicolas Wynman, German professor of languages,
wrote the first swimming book, "Colymbetes". Competitive swimming in Europe started around 1800,
mostly using breaststroke. The front crawl, then called the trudgen, was introduced in 1873 by John
Arthur Trudgen, copying it from Native Americans. Swimming was part of the first modern Olympic
games in 1896 in Athens. In 1902 the trudgen was improved by Richard Cavill, using the flutter kick. In
1908, the world swimming association, Federation Internationale de Natation de Amateur (FINA), was
formed. Butterfly was first a variant of breaststroke, until it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.

Definition of Swimming

Swimming, in recreation and sports, is the propulsion of the body through water by combined arm and
leg motions and the natural flotation of the body. Swimming as an exercise is popular as an all-around
body developer and is particularly useful in therapy and as exercise for physically handicapped
persons. It is also taught for lifesaving purposes. For activities that involve swimming, see also diving,
lifesaving, surfing, synchronized swimming, underwater diving, and water polo.

Benefits of Swimming

Swimming is a good all-round activity because it:

 keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body
 builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness
 helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs
 tones muscles and builds strength
 provides an all-over body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming
 being a relaxing and peaceful form of exercise
 alleviating stress
 improving coordination, balance and posture
 improving flexibility
 providing good low-impact therapy for some injuries and conditions
 providing a pleasant way to cool down on a hot day

Four Strokes of Swimming

1. The Front Crawl

The front crawl or freestyle stroke is the fastest swimming stroke.

Swimming Technique

 Front Crawl is swum in a prone horizontal position (face down).

 The arms move continuously and alternately. While one arm pulls underwater from an
extended forward position toward the hip, the other arm recovers above water from the hip
to the forward extended position.
 The legs do quick, compact alternate up and down movements, with the feet pointed (flutter
kick).
 To breathe, the swimmer turns his head sideways during the arm recovery, until the mouth is
above the water surface. The swimmer inhales quickly, then turns his head down again.

2. Breaststroke

Breaststroke is the most popular swimming stroke of all.

Swimming Technique

 Breaststroke is swum in a prone position. The body goes from a horizontal position during a
short, streamlined glide phase to a more inclined position during arm recovery phase.
 The arms movements are simultaneous and symmetrical. During the backward underwater
arm pull, the hands describe an arc, moving from an extended forward position to below the
chest.
 During the arm recovery, the hands move from below the chest to the extended forward
position in a straight line.
 The legs do a symmetrical whip kick. First, the legs are fully extended at the end of the glide
phase.
 The feet then move toward the buttocks during the leg recovery.
 Finally, during the propulsive phase of the kick, the feet move outward and backward from the
buttocks and then inward and backward back to the fully outstretched leg position again.
 Breathing occurs at the end of the underwater arm pull, when the hands move below the chest
and the head and chest move above the water surface.

3. Butterfly Stroke

The butterfly stroke is the second fastest swimming stroke, and is also quite exhausting to swim.

Swimming Technique

 The butterfly is swum in a prone position. The body executes a wave-like undulation, where
the chest and the hips take turns in moving up and down in the water.
 The undulation is initiated at the head, and the chest, hips, and legs successively follow along.
 The arm stroke is symmetrical, where the hands trace an hourglass pattern underwater,
moving from an extended forward position to below the chest and then toward the hips.
 The hands leave the water at the hips, and the arms circle forward sideways above the water
until they are extended forward again.
 The legs do a dolphin kick. They are kept together and move up and down in a symmetrical
fashion with feet pointed.
 Breathing occurs during the arm recovery of a breathing stroke cycle, where the head and
chest are lifted above the water to permit breathing.
 Most swimmers alternate breathing stroke cycles with non-breathing stroke cycles, as
breathing stroke cycles require more energy to lift the upper body above the water surface.

4. Backstroke

Backstroke is the only one of the four competitive strokes swum on the back.

Swimming Technique

 Backstroke is swum in a horizontal position on the back. The body rolls from side to side
toward the arm currently pulling underwater. The head stays in a neutral position, face turned
up.
 The arms alternate pulling in the water and recovering above water.
 The pulling arm sweeps underwater from an extended forward position to outside the
shoulder and then toward the hip.
 The arm recovery occurs with a straight arm above water. The hand traces half a circle in the
air, moving from the hip to pointing upward at the ceiling to being extended forward again.
 The legs do a flutter kick, where they alternate kicking up and down in quick, compact
movements with the feet pointed.
 Because the face is turned upward, breathing is not restricted. However, most backstroke
swimmers synchronize their breathing with their arm movements.
Famous Swimmers in the Philippines

1. Jessie Lacuna

Nationality: Filipino

Born: December 23, 1993

Achievements: London Olympics 2012 (2 Gold), Philippine Olympic Festival

(10 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Philippine National Games (5 Gold, 1 Silver),
Southeast Asian Age Group (4 Gold, 1 Silver), Singapore National Age Group
Swimming Championships (3 Gold, 1 Silver), SEA Age Group Swimming
Championship (2 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Silver), NSW state age championships (1
Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)

Jessie Khing Lacuna is a Filipino swimmer who competes in the freestyle and butterfly events. He has,
overall, won 26 Gold medals in Philippine Olympic Games and 7 in SEA Age Group Swimming
Championship, he represented the country Philippines in Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games.
Lacuna has a total of 51 gold medals, consisting of 35 at national and 16 at international titles. He also
qualified as universality in FINA in 200 meters Freestyle at the 1st SEA Swim Championships. He had
timed at 1:53.84 in which he ranked first as of in the Philippines' federation.

2. Gillian Akiko Thomson

Nationality: Filipino

Born: October 8, 1974

Achievements: Seoul 1988 (1 Gold), Barcelona 1992 (3 Gold, 1 Silver)

She’s one of the youngest swimmers who competed in the Olympics during
her time. Akiko Thomson was part of the Philippine team in the 1988, 1992
and 1996 Olympics. She went through rigorous training—even going to
other countries and living with a foster family. She remembers training at 4 a.m. and virtually making
the pool her second home. At a low moment, she came to the point of giving up. But she would always
be reminded about her passion for swimming, her love for her family, and country.

3. Daniel Coakley

Nationality: Filipino-American

Born: December 13, 1989

Achievements: Southeast Asian Games 2007 (2 Gold, 1 Silver)

Coakley is a 19-year-old FilAm hailing from Hawaii. He holds the Philippine

Record in the 50m freestyle (23.08 seconds) and the SEA Games Record in
the same event (22.80 sec.). It’s been reported that Coakley is the
grandnephew of the late Teofilo Yldefonso, who is considered by many as
the greatest Philippine swimmer. Yldefonso won the Philippines first Olympic medal (bronze) in the
200m-breaststroke event at the 1928 Amsterdam Games.

4. Miguel Molina

Nationality: Filipino

Born: July 22, 1984

Achievements: Athina 2004 (1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Beijing 2008 (1 Silver)

Miguel moved to Tokyo, Japan when he was 3 and attended St. Mary's
International School. It was there in first grade that he first picked up
swimming. His parents, Tomas and Mitos Molina, were both runners and
basketball players. At St. Mary's, Molina swam for all 12 years under Coach Dave Moodie. Moodie later
recommended that Molina swam under Nort Thornton at UC Berkeley. From 2002-2005, he posted a
top-six time in six events for Cal. He retired from swimming in 2010, at the age of 26.He was considering
transitioning to triathlon in an interview in 2012

5. Ryan Arabejo

Nationality: Filipino

Born: October 30, 1989

Achievements: Southeast Asian Games 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 (4 Gold, 3

Silver, 5 Bronze)

The 19-year-old swimmer from Makati City overcame an asthmatic

condition early in his life to become an Olympic athlete. Arabejo holds the
Philippine record in the 400-meter freestyle (3:58.51) and the 50m backstroke (28.29). Arabejo earned
a slot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics by finishing six seconds faster than the Olympic qualifying standard
time of 15:45.12, according an Inquirer.net report.
Famous Swimmers International

1. Michael Phelps

Nationality: American

Born: June 30, 1985

Achievements in Olympic Participation: Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 (6

Gold, 2 Bronze), Beijing 2008 (8 Gold), London 2012 (4 Gold, 2 Silver)

He is a holder of world records in a number of categories. Amongst his

achievements are the 8 gold medals he won at the Summer Olympics of
2008 held in Beijing, the highest gold medal haul in a single Olympic by
any athlete. His total of 22 Olympic medals is also a world record, with his
18 gold medals standing head and shoulders above the best of the rest. He was named the World
Swimmer of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Phelps announced his retirement from the sport
after the 2012 London Olympics, leaving his name carved in golden letters in the very highest echelons
of Olympic folklore.

2. Ian Thorpe

Nationality: Australian

Born: October 13, 1982

Achievements in Olympic Participation: Sydney 2000 (3 Gold, 2 Silver),

Athens 2004 (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)

He is one of the greatest swimmers ever, if not one of the greatest

athletes. No other Australian has been able to match his Olympic gold tally.
In addition to that, he has been nominated four times as the World
Swimmer of the Year by the Swimming World International magazine.

3. Mark Spitz

Nationality: American

Born: February 10, 1950

Achievements in Olympic Participation: Mexico City 1968 (2 Gold, 1 Silver,

1 Bronze), Munich 1972 (7 Gold)

American swimmer Mark Spitz was born on February 10, 1950. He ruled
the water world before a certain Mr. Phelps came along. Spitz shot to
fame when he won 7 gold medals at the 1972 Olympics held in Munich, an
achievement only surpassed by Phelps at the 2008 Games. Spitz, though, set world records in all the
seven events he participated in, a record that still stands. Widely regarded among the greatest athletes
of all time, he was named the swimmer of the year in 1969, 1971, and 1972. Sports Illustrated magazine
voted him one of the greatest Olympians and the athlete of the century in 2000. In addition, the
International Olympic Committee has named him as one of the 5 athletes of the century. He is, along
with Phelps, Paavo Nurmi, Carl Lewis and Larisa Latynina, one of only five Olympians to have won 9
gold medals.

4. Matt Biondi

Nationality: American

Born: October 8, 1965

Achievement in Olympic Participation: Los Angeles 1984 (1 Gold), Seoul

1988 (5 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze), Barcelona 1992 (2 Gold, 1 Silver)

Matthew Nicholas Biondi has won 11 Olympic medals, participating in the

1984, 1988, and 1992 Olympics. He equaled Mark Spitz's feat of winning 7
medals (although all of Spitz's medals were gold) in a single edition of the
Olympic Games in 1988. Biondi won 5 gold in Seoul, while he set records
in four of the events.

5. Johnny Weissmuller

Nationality: American

Born: June 2, 1904 (in Hungary)

Achievements in Olympic Participation: Paris 1924 (3 Gold, 1 Bronze),

Amsterdam 1928 (2 Gold)

Johnny 'Tarzan' Weissmuller, better known as the actor who portrayed

'Tarzan', was one of the best swimmers of the world during the 1920s. He
set 67 world records, a record in itself. Most people would remember him
better as Tarzan or Jungle Jim, but Weissmuller's achievements in the swimming pool have earned him
a permanent place in Olympic history.