MARINERS’ POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES, Inc.
Naga City, Philippines
Trunkline (054) 427-1833/473-1434 and 473-5280
Marinersnaga.shs@gmail.com or visit www.marinersnaga.edu.ph
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT
Name: Claire Mae T. Awa-ao Course & Section: BSTM -1B2
Subject: Advance Swimming Date: February 19, 2023
History & Nature of Advance Swimming
Archaeological and other evidence shows swimming to have been
practiced as early as 2500 BCE in Egypt and thereafter in Assyrian,
Greek, and Roman civilizations. In Greece and Rome swimming was a
part of martial training and was, with the alphabet, also part of
elementary education for males. In the Orient swimming dates back at
least to the 1st century BCE, there being some evidence of swimming
races then in Japan. By the 17th century an imperial edict had made the
teaching of swimming compulsory in the schools. Organized swimming
events were held in the 19th century before Japan was opened to the
Western world. Among the preliterate maritime peoples of the Pacific,
swimming was evidently learned by children about the time they walked,
or even before. Among the ancient Greeks there is note of occasional
races, and a famous boxer swam as part of his training. The Romans
built swimming pools, distinct from their baths. In the 1 st century BCE the
Roman Gaius Maecenas is said to have built the first heated swimming
pool.
The Pre-Olympic Era
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.
The second Olympic games in Paris in 1900 featured 200 m, 1000 m,
and 4000 m freestyle, 200 m backstroke, and a 200 m team race (see
also Swimming at the 1900 Summer Olympics). There were two
additional unusual swimming events (although common at the time): an
obstacle swimming course in the Seine river (swimming with the
current), and an underwater swimming race. The 4000 m freestyle was
won by John Arthur Jarvis in under one hour, the longest Olympic
swimming race until the 10k marathon swim was introduced in 2008. The
backstroke was also introduced to the Olympic Games in Paris, as was
water polo. The Osborne Swimming Club from Manchester beat club
teams from Belgium, France and Germany quite easily.
The Trudgen stroke was improved by Australian-born Richmond Cavill.
Cavill, whose father Frederick Cavill narrowly failed to swim the English
Channel, is credited with developing the stroke after observing a young
boy from the Solomon Islands. Cavill and his brothers spread the
Australian crawl to England, New Zealand and America. Richmond used
this stroke in 1902 at an International Championships in England to set a
new world record by out swimming all Trudgen swimmers over the 100
yards (91 m) in 0:58.4[13]
The Olympics in 1904 in St. Louis included races over 50 yards (46 m),
100 yards, 220 yards (200 m), 440 yards, 880 yards (800 m) and one
mile (1.6 km) freestyle, 100 yards (91 m) backstroke and 440 yards (400
m) breaststroke, and the 4x50 yards freestyle relay (see also Swimming
at the 1904 Summer Olympics). These games differentiated between
breaststroke and freestyle, so that there were now two defined styles
(breaststroke and backstroke) and freestyle, where most people swam
Trudgen. These games also featured a competition to plunge for
distance, where the distance without swimming, after jumping in a pool,
was measured.
Modern Olympic Era
Since swimming was done in a state of undress, it became less popular
as society became more conservative in the Early Modern period.
Leonardo da Vinci made early sketches of lifebelts. In 1538, Nikolaus
Wynmann, a Swiss–German professor of languages, wrote the earliest
known complete book about swimming, The Swimmer, or A Dialogue on
the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read. 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.
GEC1: Purposive Communication
In 1587, Everard Digby also wrote a swimming book, claiming that
humans could swim better than fish. Digby was a Senior Fellow at St.
John’s College, Cambridge and was interested in the scientific method.
His short treatise, De arte natandi, was written in Latin and contained
over 40 woodcut illustrations depicting various methods of swimming,
including the breaststroke, backstroke and crawl. Digby regarded the
breaststroke as the most useful form of swimming. In 1603, Emperor Go-
Yozei of Japan declared that schoolchildren should swim.
In 1696, the French author Melchisédech Thévenot wrote The Art of
Swimming, describing a breaststroke very similar to the modern
breaststroke. This book was translated into English and became the
standard reference of swimming for many years to come. In 1793,
GutsMuths from Schnepfenthal, Germany, wrote Exercise for youth,
including a significant portion about swimming. In 1794, Kanonikus
Oronzio de Bernardi of Italy wrote a two volume book about swimming,
including floating practice as a prerequisite for swimming studies.
In 1798, GutsMuths wrote another book Small study book of the art of
swimming for self-study, recommending the use of a “fishing rod” device
to aid in the learning of swimming. His books describe a three-step
approach to learning to swim that is still used today. First, get the
student used to the water; second, practice the swimming movements
out of the water; and third, practice the swimming movements in the
water. He believed that swimming is an essential part of every
education.[8] The Haloren, a group of salt makers in Halle, Germany,
greatly advanced swimming through setting a good example to others by
teaching their children to swim at a very early age.
GEC1: Purposive Communication
