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Reflection of the history of swimming
History of swimming
The history of swimming
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Swimming is an activity that’s been around for a long time. Some of its first forms have been in ancient caves that have illustrations of people swimming. Some others include in the Greek epic poems “The Illiad” and “The Odyssey.” During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, swimming began to be a structured activity and later on in history became a popular sport. In 1896, it was a portion of the Olympics in Athens, Greece and it continues to be part of the summer Olympics. Currently, swimming is the second most popular exercise in the United States with millions of people partaking in it.
Swimming is composed of many different strokes, one of them being the front crawl, also known as the freestyle. This stroke is very simple and good for swimmers that are just starting. The leg kick requires a simple flutter kick while the legs are going in an interchanging order. The knees are a little bent with the feet and ankles loosened. In order to have a good forward momentum, the swimmer should highlight the down-kick more. While using the changing windmill motion between right and left arm, the hands should be cupped with relaxed wrists and hands. Another key fact for the arm stroke is the pulling arms underwater should be in an “S” pattern and the arms must pull the water with equal power and arm reach. This will guarantee the swimmer that they’re going in a straight line. For the body positioning, the freestyle requires the swimmer to twist on the long-axis, from the head down to the toe, of the body. Therefore the front crawl is known as a long-axis stroke. One important thing to remember with long-axis strokes is the swimmer must have the hips and legs aligned and so they don’t sink. Another important fact is to r...
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Imagine swimming in the big Olympic pools. All you can hear is the muffled noises of ecstatic fans cheering. All you can feel is the water urging you to keep swimming. Then you reach your hand out and feel the wall. You emerge out of the crystal blue pool water and have won! Michael Phelps and Dara Torres are two extraordinary swimmers who live their lives in the Olympic pools. Both Torres Is Tops and Michael’s Magic deal with the challenges and successes of Dara and Michael’s Olympic careers, but they do so in different ways. Let’s start our swim through the lives of these two Olympic champions.
According to Marilyn Stokstad, "the visual arts are among the most sophisticated forms of human communication, at once shaping and being shaped by their social context (xxxviii)." As this quote implies, artistic pieces invariably are a reflection of the culture in which they were created. Thus, art is a potent means of deciphering the values and belief systems of ancient societies. Apoxyomenos (330 BCE), or The Scraper, created by the sculptor Lysippos, is an enduring testament to the importance ascribed to athletics by the citizens of ancient Greece.
Some goodness comes out of taking the risk of swimming alone. Ones“prohibition and expectations are ignored.'; The challenger of this feat has let go of all egoism as a result of the vulnerability faced.
Desire as Power, and Stripping it through sexual means in The Swimming Lady and The Disappointment.
In John Cheever’s short story, “The Swimmer” he conveys the transformation of the character through the use of the literary element of setting. The story begins in an American, middle class, suburbs. After what seems to be a night of partying and drinking. Neddy Merrill, the main character initially appears very optimistic; he has a perfect family, high social status and very few problems in his life. In spite of his age, he feels young and energetic therefore decides to swim across town through the neighborhood pools. However, his journey becomes less and less enjoyable as the day unfolds. The water become murky, uninviting and he becomes exhausted. Also the people in his surrounding become less cordial including his mistress who wants nothing to do with him. His voyage then comes to an end when he arrives to an empty, abandoned home. The central idea suggests that an unhealthy obsession with the materialistic aspects of life can lead to alienation.
Students might moan and groan when you hand them The Odyssey. “It’s so big; it’s so confusing”, they could say. But, if you look a little deeper, The Odyssey is a perfect example of epic poetry for the Greeks. To the Greeks, an epic hero has a massive significance. It symbolizes everything they look for in a leader and the qualities he/she should posses. Odysseus, being an epic hero, is an essential part of making The Odyssey an epic poem. To be considered an epic, the writing must contain an epic hero, use elevated language, show values of the culture, and other crucial elements that make up this style of writing. Universal themes, a hero of larger-than-life status, and prophetic actions make up The Odyssey, a classic epic poem written by Homer.
At 5 A.M., swimmers around the world get up to go to practice or are already jumping into the pool. Later on that day, swimmers will get into the water again and practice for another couple of hours. In addition to that, there are always weights and some sort of dry land activity. Some teams even include yoga and Pilates for added flexibility. Having a social life beyond seeing the people on your swim team is near impossible. With school work, high physical demands at practice, having to eat almost every three hours, and trying to maintain a normal life, the weeks are exhausting. It is no wonder why the NCAA has set a maximum number of hours to train each week in regards to college swimming. All of these factors play into the hopes that when a swimmer tapers, or rests for a meet so that they are in top condition to compete, they will be able to swim faster than they ever have before and hopefully achieve a best time or get a new “cut”. The same process has been happening year after year, and then 2008 came around and one of the biggest headaches for the swimmers and all of their supporters was created: the LZR ( pronounced lasar) Racer. This suit has been one of the largest controversies swimming has had to face. In swimming, technology, technique, and conditioning are key to success, but when technology becomes the main factor, the sport of swimming is lost in the turmoil. If suits keep becoming faster and more technologically advanced, the only thing left to do will be to jump into the pool, and where is the sport in that? All suits manufactured with a non-permeable material should be banned from all competitive swimming events; in addition to that, the suits should not be longer than the knees, no higher than the waist for men,...
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Swimmers tend to be tall and have a noticeable upper body muscle development. Having low body
In swimming you turn direction when you get to the end of a swimming pool, for freestyle and backstroke you use a tumble turn to change. direction, in butterfly and breathstroke you have to touch the wall with two hands and push off the wall with your feet. Again, speed is only really important in hockey and football. In swimming. There are two types of course, short course and long course.
...ly prove that swimming directly effects specific mental and physical diseases in ways that other rehabilitation methods can not.
Any form of competitive swimming did not appear until the 1800s in Europe when schools accepted swimming as a natural part of life education. In the 18th and 19th century it became a competitive sport than being just a life saving skill. Swimming teams and clubs started to evolve all over the world. Although England was the first country to have an inside pool they aren’t one of the first countries of all times , China, Germany and Sweden were the first countries in swimming history. England and also invented the side stroke and after this one the freestyle evolved. Although there aren’t swimming competitions of side stroke it’s also known as a global stroke. In this essay I’m going to explain the changes of swimming for example the technology in swimming pools, the changes in bodies of the people that swam and more.