Swimming
Swimming is the act of moving through the water by using the arms, legs, and body in motions called strokes. The most common strokes are the crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and sidestroke.
Some scientists believe that human beings are born with an instinctive ability to use their arms and legs to stay afloat. That instinct, however, disappears within a few months after birth. Later in life many children and adults learn to swim in order to be safe around the water, to have fun, and to participate in competition.
Most people learn to swim by imitating others, most often their parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Most youngsters in also take lessons at swim clubs, community centers, schools, and recreational facilities. In addition, the American Swim Coaches Association (ASCA) and the American Red Cross sponsor programs that teach children about water safety. Instructors teach students skills that will make them safe, efficient, and confident swimmers. Beginners first put their heads in the water and blow bubbles by exhaling. Gradually, students progress to floating, treading water, and ultimately, learning the techniques of the major strokes.
Individuals should not swim in conditions that their ability and experience will not allow them to handle. For inexperienced recreational swimmers, many safety hazards exist, even in a pool. These hazards include misjudging a dive and hitting one's head on the bottom, holding one's breath too long, becoming exhausted, and experiencing sudden cramps while too far from shore or other swimmers.
The history of swimming dates back thousands of years. One of the earliest representations of swimming is an ancient Egyptian wall relief that shows soldiers of Pharaoh Ramses II.
Swimming was very important in ancient Greece and Rome, especially as a form of training for warriors. In Japan, competitions were held as early as the 1st century BC. In Europe, swimming was less popular during the Middle Ages, swimming didn’t pick up until the 19th century. In the late 19th century amateur swimming clubs began conducting competitions in the United States and Britain. In the United States, colleges and universities such as Yale University, Indiana University, and the University of Southern California played an important role in spreading interest in swimming as a competitive sport. In 1875 Matthew Webb of Great Britain became the first person to swim across the English Channel.
In the book, Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America, author Jeff Wiltse relates the history of swimming pools in America to situations and events that happened in American history. Not only have swimming pools outlined America’s history, but they have symbolized its division in race, gender, and class. Swimming pools themselves have been used for bathing, recreation, and physical activity. Who knew that something so simple as swimming pools would be a recognizable symbol of American life. Important time periods for this division in race, gender, and class are noticeable in the 1890’s, 1920’s and 1940’s.
In the short story The Swimmer by John Cheever, one of the dominant themes is the passage of time. In this short story time seems to pass as reality does with us unaware of its passing. The main character is the protagonist hero, Neddy Merrill who embarks on a traditional theme of a homeward journey. The scene opens on a warm mid-summer day at an ongoing pool party with Neddy and his wife Lucinda. The pool is “fed by an artesian well with a high iron content, was a pale shade of green.
Swimming became a favored recreational activity in the US during the 1800’s. The occurrence of drownings intensified as water activity become more common. As many as 9,000 people drowned every year in the early 1900’s(History of Lifeguards). Once the businessmen who opened the pools and resorts realised there was an issue, they inserted lifelines. However, it became evident that these lifelines were insufficient because struggling swimmers weren’t able to clench onto them. For this reason, Duke Kahanamoku established the rescue board in Hawaii. Meanwhile in South Africa, Captain Harry Sheffield constructed the first rescue float. Although these worked for a few years, they were not the best option. A few communities stationed police officers at local water bodies to execute water rescues; However, this took away resources from law enforcement. This led to facilities hiring men and women who were trained particularly in water rescue. These individuals were labeled as lifeguards(History of Lifeguards). Now, when you attend a beach or a pool that is monitored by a USLA afflicted lifeguard, you have a 1 in 18 million chance of drowning(American Lifeguard).
As a competitive swimmer, I train 19 hours a week as a member of the University of Manitoba Bison’s Men’s Swim Team. However, growing up, I was never a great swimmer. I just didn’t have the classic swimmer body type—tall, long limbs with big hands and feet—but I loved the sport. Looking back, I can imagine how my parents felt. Their short, scrawny kid desperately wanted to be in a sport that he wasn’t meant for.
Did u know that there is a lot of history behind Olympic swimming? It is amazing how much history there is behind it. According to http://www.olympic.org/swimming-equipment-and-history. The swimming Olympics were started in 1896. The very first Olympic events were free style (crawl) or breaststroke. Backstroke was added in 1904. In the 1940s, breaststroke swimmers discovered they could go faster by bring both arms forward over their heads. Ur body is longer when you do that. This practice was immediately forbidden in breaststro...
The history of rowing dates way back to Egyptian time where it was used as a means of transportation and around the 15 century BC Egyptians began to view it as a sport. That those times there is no record of women participating in the sport and it continued for many more years to come. Rowing did not make it to the United States until 1700’s. The first recorded race in the United States 1756 at New York City. The rowers of that boat consisted of only men from Oxford that and that led to rowing becoming a popular sport for America’s most prestige’s schools. Rowing was a male dominated sport for many years until group’s likes ZLAC emerged in San Diego. This rowing club was found in 1892 by four adventurous women, Zulette Lamb, Lena, Agnes, and
Imagine that it’s the closest swim meet of the season, and your team is losing by a mere two points. You know that your race could pull your team ahead, but you’re starting to doubt yourself. As the starting signal goes off, you dive in and hear your team explode into cheers. This gives you a boost of confidence and you pull ahead, slamming into the finish and out touching your opponents. With a smile on your face, you proudly turn to your teammates who are all screaming and jumping around. Joining a summer swim team ensures a summer filled with fun, and being with a community of supportive and happy people every day. Swim practice is also an amazing workout with serious health benefits, and can even help lower the risk of heart disease. Many people may be afraid of the commitment of practices and meets, but in reality, practices are not mandatory and are actually very fun, and meets are optional.
People have been diving since about 4500 BC. Greeks, Mesopotamians, Chinese, and many others dove for food, commerce, and warfare (Cooper). Searching the sea bed for food was the main reason that drove people to dive. Modern man knows this because ancient drawings depict people diving. Ancient artifacts have been discovered in Greece that show divers partaking in military endeavors and searching the ocean floor for sponges (“History of Scuba Diving”, ScubaSoul.com Internet). In 414 BC, the first record of diving being used in warfare was in the siege of Syracuse by Greeks. “The origins and history of scuba diving can be traced back centuries. Before the apparatus for the sport was invented, men and women had practiced holding their breath while being submerged underwater”, says Ed J. Price, a diver from scubasoul.com (“History of Scuba Diving”, ScubaSoul.com Internet).
“The Swimmer” is the short story written by John Cheever and it is considered as one of his best short stories. It was published in the collection of short stories “The Brigadier and the Golf Widow”. This story is regarded as one of the best examples of Cheever's suburban stories. The story follows eight miles long way that Neddy Merrill tries to pass by swimming the pools of Westchester County. Neddy Merrill is represented as the main character of the story, whose retrospective of life is illustrated by swimming through the neighbor's pools. The plot of the story concerns the time passage and the main character's unawareness of the very same. At the begging of the story he is described as a happy, family man who lives the “American dream” but he ends up alone because he disregarded the
4 James E. Counsilman and Brian E. Counsilman, The New Science of Swimming, (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1994) 10-22
You can greatly reduce the chances of you and your children becoming a drowning victim or being injured if you follow a few simple safety tips:
Many people think of scuba diving as just a swim in the water, but in reality it is a very exciting, dangerous, and potentially fatal sport and activity. There are many types of scuba diving, ranging from recreational to sport to career diving. Scuba Diving is just not a swim in the water, scuba requires certification, uses technical equipment, and there is a lot of risk involved with scuba diving.
Scuba diving is a sport that has been done for centuries. Scuba stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, in which people dive underwater with a cylinder of gas to breathe with the assistance of masks, fins, a breathing regulator, a buoyancy device, and gauges to explore the underwater environment. In the early nineteenth century new improvements were invented to help divers stay submerged underwater longer and have a smoother dive. But there is still doubt whether it is still safe to scuba dive or not because of the dangers that come with diving. And there are some areas of the world in which divers should be aware of. Even though improvements in technology made scuba diving safer by allowing humans to stay submerged longer periods of time, scuba diving should not be done, especially in particular regions of the world. A majority of dangers that come with scuba diving are caused by extreme water pressures.
Swimming has been my whole life, since I jumped into the pool for the very first time. I loved every aspect of swimming from the adrenaline running through my body during my races and getting to spend even more time with my friends and my sister, and the stress of big meets coming up in the schedule. Except everything didn't go according to plan after the first day of school when I got home and I saw my parents sitting by my sister on the coach and my sister was crying.
Swimming is a physical activity that has that has a long part in human history, that has evolved a lot since the past, and is very beneficial to the health of your not only your body but also your mind.