Water-based sport
This article is about competitive swimming.
For the general article on human movement in the water, see Swimming
"Swimmer" redirects here.
For👏 other uses, see Swimmer (disambiguation)
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body👏 to move through water.
The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g.
, in a sea or lake).
Competitive swimming is👏 one of the most popular Olympic sports,[1] with varied distance events in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley.
In addition👏 to these individual events, four swimmers can take part in either a freestyle or medley relay.
A medley relay consists of👏 four swimmers who will each swim a different stroke, ordered as backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.[2]
Swimming each stroke requires a👏 set of specific techniques; in competition, there are distinct regulations concerning the acceptable form for each individual stroke.
[3] There are👏 also regulations on what types of swimsuits, caps, jewelry and injury tape that are allowed at competitions.
[4] Although it is👏 possible for competitive swimmers to incur several injuries from the sport, such as tendinitis in the shoulders or knees, there👏 are also multiple health benefits associated with the sport.
History
Leander swimming across the Hellespont.
Detail from a painting by Bernard Picart.
Evidence of👏 recreational swimming in prehistoric times has been found, with the earliest evidence dating to Stone Age paintings from around 10,000👏 years ago.
Written references date from 2000 BC, with some of the earliest references to swimming including the Iliad, the Odyssey,👏 the Bible, Beowulf, the Quran and others.
In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a Swiss–German professor of languages, wrote the earliest known complete👏 book about swimming, Colymbetes, sive de arte natandi dialogus et festivus et iucundus lectu (The Swimmer, or A Dialogue on👏 the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read).[5]
Swimming emerged as a competitive recreational activity in the 1830s in👏 England.
In 1828, the first indoor swimming pool, St George's Baths was opened to the public.
[6] By 1837, the National Swimming👏 Society was holding regular swimming competitions in six artificial swimming pools, built around London.
The recreational activity grew in popularity and👏 by 1880, when the first national governing body, the Amateur Swimming Association was formed, there were already over 300 regional👏 clubs in operation across the country.[7]
The routes taken by Webb and T.W.
Burgess across the English Channel, in 1875 and 1911,👏 respectively.
In 1844 two Native American participants at a swimming competition in London introduced the front crawl to a European audience.
Sir👏 John Arthur Trudgen picked up the hand-over stroke from some South American natives and successfully debuted the new stroke in👏 1873, winning a local competition in England.
His stroke is still regarded as the most powerful to use today.[8]
Captain Matthew Webb👏 was the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875.
Using the breaststroke technique, he swam👏 the channel 21.26 miles (34.
21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes.
His feat was not replicated or surpassed for the👏 next 36 years, until T.W.
Burgess made the crossing in 1911.
Other European countries also established swimming federations; Germany in 1882, France👏 in 1890 and Hungary in 1896.
The first European amateur swimming competitions were in 1889 in Vienna.
The world's first women's swimming👏 championship was held in Scotland in 1892.[9]
Men's swimming became part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens.
In👏 1902, the Australian Richmond Cavill introduced freestyle to the Western world.
In 1908, the world swimming association, Fédération Internationale de Natation👏 (FINA), was formed.
Women's swimming was introduced into the Olympics in 1912; the first international swim meet for women outside the👏 Olympics was the 1922 Women's Olympiad.
Butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was at first a variant of breaststroke, until👏 it was accepted as a separate style in 1952.
FINA renamed itself World Aquatics in December 2022.[10]
Competitive swimming
Katie Ledecky set the👏 Olympic records in 2016 for the 400m and 800m freestyle.
Competitive swimming became popular in the 19th century.
The goal of high👏 level competitive swimming is to break personal or world records while beating competitors in any given event.
Swimming in competition should👏 create the least resistance in order to obtain maximum speed.
However, some professional swimmers who do not hold a national or👏 world ranking are considered the best in regard to their technical skills.
Typically, an athlete goes through a cycle of training👏 in which the body is overloaded with work in the beginning and middle segments of the cycle, and then the👏 workload is decreased in the final stage as the swimmer approaches competition.
The practice of reducing exercise in the days just👏 before an important competition is called tapering.
Tapering is used to give the swimmer's body some rest without stopping exercise completely.
A👏 final stage is often referred to as "shave and taper": the swimmer shaves off all exposed hair for the sake👏 of reducing drag and having a sleeker and more hydrodynamic feel in the water.
[11] Additionally, the "shave and taper" method👏 refers to the removal of the top layer of "dead skin", which exposes the newer and richer skin underneath.
This also👏 helps to "shave" off mere milliseconds on your time.[12]
World record holder and Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps in the 400👏 IM.
Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 16 of the recognized👏 events each.
Olympic events are held in a 50-meter pool, called a long course pool.
There are forty officially recognized individual swimming👏 events in the pool; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 32 of them.
The international governing body for competitive swimming👏 is World Aquatics, previously named the Fédération Internationale de Natation ("International Swimming Federation"), or more commonly, FINA, prior to 2023.[10]Open👏 water
In open water swimming, where the events are swum in a body of open water (lake or sea), there are👏 also 5 km, 10 km and 25 km events for men and women.
However, only the 10 km event is included👏 in the Olympic schedule, again for both men and women.
Open-water competitions are typically separate to other swimming competitions with the👏 exception of the World Championships and the Olympics.
Swim styles
In competitive swimming, four major styles have been established.
These have been relatively👏 stable over the last 30–40 years with minor improvements.They are:
In competition, only one of these styles may be used except👏 in the case of the individual medley, or IM, which consists of all four.
In this latter event, swimmers swim equal👏 distances of butterfly, then backstroke, breaststroke, and finally, freestyle.
[13] In Olympic competition, this event is swum in two distances –👏 200 and 400 meters.
Some short course competitions also include the 100-yard or 100-meter IM – particularly, for younger or newer👏 swimmers (typically under 14 years) involved in club swimming, or masters swimming (over 18).
Dolphin kick
Since the 1990s, the most drastic👏 change in swimming has been the addition of the underwater dolphin kick.
This is used to maximize the speed at the👏 start and after the turns in all styles.
The first successful use of it was by David Berkoff.
At the 1988 Olympics,👏 he swam most of the 100 m backstroke race underwater and broke the world record in the distance during the👏 preliminaries.
Another swimmer to use the technique was Denis Pankratov at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he completed almost half👏 of the 100 m butterfly underwater to win the gold medal.
In the past decade, American competitive swimmers have shown the👏 most use of the underwater dolphin kick to gain advantage, most notably Olympic and World medal winners Michael Phelps and👏 Ryan Lochte; however currently swimmers are not allowed to go any further than fifteen metres underwater due to rule changes👏 by FINA.
[14] In addition, FINA announced in 2014 that a single dolphin kick can be added to the breaststroke pullout👏 prior to the first breaststroke kick.[15]
While the dolphin kick is mostly seen in middle-distance freestyle events and in all distances👏 of backstroke and butterfly, it is not usually used to the same effect in freestyle sprinting.
That changed with the addition👏 of the so-called "technical" suits around the European Short Course Championships in Rijeka, Croatia in December 2008.
There, Amaury Leveaux set👏 new world records of 44.
94 seconds in the 100 m freestyle, 20.
48 seconds in the 50 m freestyle and 22.
18👏 in the 50 m butterfly.
Unlike the rest of the competitors in these events, he spent at least half of each👏 race submerged using the dolphin kick.
[16]Competition pools
A simplified diagram of the World Aquatics long course swimming pool standard, used at👏 the World Championships and Summer Olympics
World Championship pools must be 50 metres (160 ft) (long course) long and 25 metres👏 (82 ft) wide, with ten lanes labelled zero to nine (or one to ten in some pools; zero and nine👏 (or one and ten) are usually left empty in semi-finals and finals); the lanes must be at least 2.5 metres👏 (8.2 ft) wide.
They will be equipped with starting blocks at both ends of the pool and most will have Automatic👏 Officiating Equipment, including touch pads to record times and sensors to ensure the legality of relay takeovers.
The pool must have👏 a minimum depth of two metres.[17]
Other pools which host events under World Aquatics regulations are required to meet some but👏 not all of these requirements.
Many of these pools have eight, or even six, instead of ten lanes and some will👏 be 25 metres (82 ft) long, making them Short course.
World records that are set in short course pools are kept👏 separate from those set in long course pools because it may be an advantage or disadvantage to swimmers to have👏 more or less turns in a race.
Seasons
Competitive swimming, from the club through to international level, tends to have an autumn👏 and winter season competing in short course (25 metres or yards) pools and a spring and summer season competing in👏 long course (50-metre) pools and in open water.
In international competition and in club swimming in Europe, the short course (25m)👏 season lasts from September to December, and the long course (50m) season from January to August with open water in👏 the summer months.
These regulations are slowly being brought to competition in North America.
As of right now, in club, school, and👏 college swimming in the United States and Canada, the short course (25 yards) season is much longer, from September to👏 March.
The long-course season takes place in 50-meter pools and lasts from April to the end of August with open water👏 in the summer months.
In club swimming in Australasia, the short course (25m) season lasts from April to September, and the👏 long course (50m) season from October to March with open water in the summer months.
Outside the United States, meters is👏 the standard in both short and long course swimming, with the same distances swum in all events.
In the American short👏 course season, the 500-yard, 1000 yard, and 1650-yard freestyle events are swum as a yard is much shorter than a👏 meter (100 yards equals 91.
44 meters), while during the American long course season the 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1500-meter👏 freestyle events are swum instead.
Beginning each swimming season racing in short course allows for shorter distance races for novice swimmers.
For👏 example, in the short course season if a swimmer wanted to compete in a stroke they had just learned, a👏 25-yard/meter race is available to them, opposed to the long course season when they would need to be able to👏 swim at least 50 meters of that new stroke in order to compete.
Officials
There are several types of officials,[18] which are👏 needed to manage the competition.[19]
Referee: The referee has full control and authority over all officials.
The referee will enforce all rules👏 and decisions of World Aquatics and shall have the final answer to all questions relating to the actual conduct of👏 anything regarding the meet, as well as the final settlement of which is not otherwise covered by the rules.
The referee👏 takes overall responsibility for running the meet and makes the final decisions as to who wins each race.
Referees call swimmers👏 to the blocks with short blasts of their whistles.
This is the signal for the swimmers to stand next to their👏 blocks.
Then the referee will blow a long whistle that will tell the swimmers to step on the block.
For backstroke events,👏 the long whistle is the signal for the swimmers to jump into the water.
The referee will then blow another long👏 whistle, signalling the swimmers to grab the gutter or the provided block handle.
Finally the referee will hand over the rest👏 to the starter by directing their hand to the starter.
Starter: The starter has full control of the swimmers from the👏 time the referee turns the swimmers over to them until the race commences.
A starter begins the race by saying, "Take👏 your mark.
" At this point, the swimmers will get into stationary positions, sometimes known as "point zero", in which they👏 would like to start their race.
After all swimmers have assumed their stationary position, the starter will push a button on👏 the starting system, signaling the start of a race with a loud noise (usually a beep or a horn) and👏 flash from a strobe light.
A starter sends the swimmers off the blocks and may call a false start if a👏 swimmer leaves the block before the starter sends them.
A starter may also choose to recall the race after the start👏 for any reason or request the swimmers to "stand", "relax" or "step down" if they believe that (a) particular swimmer(s)👏 has gotten an unfair advantage at the start.
Clerk of course: The clerk of course (also called the "bullpen") assembles swimmers👏 prior to each event, and is responsible for organizing ("seeding") swimmers into heats based on their times.
Heats are generally seeded👏 from slowest to fastest, where swimmers with no previous time for an event are assumed to be the slowest.
The clerk👏 of the course is also responsible for recording and reporting swimmers who have chosen to "scratch" (not swim) their events👏 after they have signed up or qualified to a semifinal or final.
The clerk is also responsible for enforcing rules of👏 the swim meet if a swimmer chooses to not show up ("No show" - NS) to their events.
Timekeepers: Each timekeeper👏 takes the time of the swimmers in the lane assigned to them.
Unless a video backup system is used, it may👏 be necessary to use the full complement of timekeepers even when automatic officiating equipment is used.
A chief timekeeper assigns the👏 seating positions for all timekeepers and the lanes for which they are responsible.
In most competitions there will be one or👏 more timekeepers per lane.
In international competitions where full automatic timing and video placing equipment is in use timekeepers may not👏 be required.
Inspectors of turns: One inspector of turns is assigned to one or more lanes at each end of the👏 pool.
Each inspector of turns ensures that swimmers comply with the relevant rules for turning, as well as the relevant rules👏 for start and finish of the race.
Inspectors of turns shall report any violation on disqualification reports detailing the event, lane👏 number, and the infringement delivered to the chief inspector of turns who will immediately convey the report to the referee.
Judges👏 of Stroke: Judges of stroke are located on each side of the pool.
They follow the swimmers during their swim back👏 and forth across the pool.
They ensure that the rules related to the style of swimming designated for the event are👏 being observed, and observe the turns and the finishes to assist the inspectors of turns.
Finish judges: Finish judges determine the👏 order of finish and make sure the swimmers finish in accordance with the rules (two hands simultaneously for breaststroke and👏 butterfly, on the back for backstroke, etc.)
If an official observes a swimmer breaking a rule concerning the stroke they are👏 swimming, the official will report what they have seen to the referee.
The referee can disqualify (or DQ) any swimmer for👏 any violation of the rules that they personally observe or for any violation reported to them by other authorised officials.
All👏 disqualifications are subject to the decision and discretion of the referee.
Those who are disqualified may choose to protest their disqualification👏 .
Protests are reviewed by a panel of officials instead of the deck referee or stroke judges who may have made👏 the initial disqualification report.
Swimwear and equipment
Swimsuit Competitive swimwear seeks to improve upon bare skin for a speed advantage and coverage.
In👏 2009, FINA rules and regulations were altered and suits made with polyurethane were banned because they made athletes more buoyant.
These👏 rules also banned suits which go above the navel or below the knee for men and suits which extend past👏 the shoulders or cover the neck for women.
[20] Swim cap A swim cap (a.k.a.
cap) keeps the swimmer's hair out of👏 the way to reduce drag.
Caps may be made of latex, silicone, spandex or lycra.
Goggles Goggles keep water and chlorine out👏 of swimmers' eyes.
Goggles may be tinted to counteract glare at outdoor pools.
Prescription goggles may be used by swimmers who wear👏 corrective lenses.
Swim Fins Rubber fins are used to help kick faster and build strength and technique, but are illegal in👏 a race.
They also improve technique by keeping the feet in the proper position while kicking.
Drag suit Swimmers use drag suits👏 in training to increase resistance.
This allows a swimmer to be challenged even more when practicing and let the swimmer feel👏 less resistance when racing.
Drag suits are not used in competitive races.
Hand paddles Swimmers use these plastic devices to build arm👏 and shoulder strength while refining hand-pulling technique.
Hand paddles attach to the hand with rubber tubing or elastic material.
They come in👏 many different shapes and sizes, depending on swimmer preference and hand size.
Kickboard A kickboard is a foam board that swimmers👏 use to support the weight of the upper body while they focus on kicking.
Kicking is the movement of the legs👏 only which helps to increase leg muscle for future strength.
Pull buoy Often used at the same time as hand paddles,👏 pull buoys support swimmers' legs (and prevent them from kicking) while they focus on pulling.
Pull buoys are made of foam👏 so they float in the water.
Swimmers hold them in between the thighs.
They can also be used as a kickboard to👏 make kicking a little harder.
Ankle bands Improving balance will minimize the need for this kick to provide an upward, instead👏 of a forward vector, and in some cases completely corrects the kick.
Using an ankle band will have the immediate effect👏 of turning off your kick, which then forces you to make efforts to correct your balance.
If you are successful in👏 discovering these, then the ankle band has done part of its job.
[21] Snorkel A snorkel is a plastic device that👏 helps swimmers breathe while swimming.
This piece of equipment helps the swimmer practice keeping their head in one position, along with👏 training them for the proper breathing technique of breathing in through the mouth and out the nose.
This technique is the👏 opposite of a common runner's breathing pattern, which is in the nose and out the mouth.
[22][23]Common swimwear
Brands such as Arena,👏 Speedo, TYR, and Adidas are popular regular swimwear brands.
The most durable material for regular swimming is Polyester.
The main difference between👏 competition and regular swimwear is that competition swimwear is tighter and compresses the muscles of the swimmers.
Regular swimwear is easier👏 to put on and more comfortable for leisure activities.
Men
The most used practice swimwear for men includes briefs and jammers.
Males generally👏 swim barechested.
There was controversy after the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 when many Olympic swimmers broke records an unprecedented number👏 of times using revolutionary swimsuits that covered their entire legs.
To highlight the issue, in 2008, 70 world records were broken👏 in one year, and 66 Olympic records were broken in one Olympic Games (there were races in Beijing where the👏 first five finishers were swimming faster than the old world record).
As of 1 January 2010, men are only allowed to👏 wear suits from the waist to the knees.
[24] They are also only permitted to wear one piece of swimwear; they👏 cannot wear briefs underneath jammers.
This rule was enacted after the controversy in the Beijing Olympics and Rome World Championships.
Women
Women wear👏 one-piece suits with thicker and higher backs for competition, though two-piece suits can also be worn during practice.
Backs vary mainly👏 in strap thickness and geometric design.
Most common styles include: racerback, axel back, corset, diamondback, and butterfly-back/Fly-Back.
There are also different style👏 lengths: three-quarter length (reaches the knees), regular length (shoulders to hips), and bikini style (two-piece).
As of 1 January 2010, in👏 competition, women must wear suits that do not go past the shoulders or knees.
Use of drag wear
Drag suits are used👏 to increase water resistance against the swimmer to help them train for competitions.
Other forms of drag wear include nylons, old👏 suits, and T-shirts: articles that increase friction in the water to build strength during training, and thus increase speed once👏 drag items are removed for competition.
Some swimmers practice in basketball shorts over their bathing suit, wearing two bathing suits, or👏 wearing an extra bathing suit with holes cut in the material.
Many swimmers also shave areas of exposed skin before end-of-season👏 competitions to reduce friction in the water.
The practice gained popularity after the 1956 Olympics, when Murray Rose and Jon Henricks👏 came shaved and won gold medals for Australia.
[25] Freshly shaven skin is less resistant when in the water.
In addition, a👏 1989 study demonstrated that shaving improves a swimmer's overall performance by reducing drag.[26]
The disadvantages of using a drag suit include👏 the depletion of proper stroke.
This is caused by the swimmer's own fatigue.
When the swimmer becomes more fatigued, different muscle groups👏 become more tired.
Consequently, the swimmer will try to engage another group of muscle to do the same thing, which can👏 cause the stroke efficiency to drop.[citation needed]
Elite and international swimming
Elite and international swimming comprises the highest level of competition available👏 to swimmers, including competitions such as the Olympic Games and the World Aquatics Championships.
Professionalism
Swimming creates a mix of levels, including:👏 fully professional, semi-professional, and amateur.
Fully professional swimmers will typically get a salary both from their national governing body and from👏 outside sponsors, semi-professionals a small stipend from their national governing body, and amateurs receive no funding.
Outside of these major championships👏 prize money is low – the 2015 FINA World Cup series has a total prize fund of $3,000 per race👏 shared between the top three[27] and the 2014–15 USA Grand Prix Series $1,800[28] compared to the 2015 World Aquatics Championships👏 fund of $60,000 per race shared between the top eight.
[29]Open-water swimming
Swimmers must go around the yellow marked to count as👏 a "lap"
Open water swimming is swimming outside a regular pool, usually in a lake, or sometimes ocean.
Popularity of the sport👏 has grown in recent years, particularly since the 10 km open water event was added as an Olympic event in👏 2005, contested for the first time in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.[30]
New recent technology has developed much faster swimsuits.
Full👏 body suits have been banned, but swimmers at the very top levels still wear suits that have been lasered together👏 because stitching creates drag.
The disadvantage of these suits is that they are often uncomfortable and tight, and can tear easily👏 if not handled carefully.
The largest Ocean Swim's in terms of numbers of participants are in Australia, with the Pier to👏 Pub, Cole Classic and Melbourne Swim Classic all with roughly 5000 swimming participants.
Changes to the sport
Swimming times have dropped over👏 the years due to superior training techniques and new technical developments.
The first four Olympics were not held in pools, but👏 in open water (1896 – the Mediterranean, 1900 – the Seine river, 1904 – an artificial lake, 1906 – the👏 Mediterranean).
The 1904 Olympics' freestyle race was the only one ever measured at 100 yards, instead of the usual 100 meters.
A👏 100-meter pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and sat in the center of the main stadium's track and field👏 oval.
The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbor, marked the beginning of electronic timing.
[clarification needed]
Olympian Ryan Lochte (near) standing on👏 top of the wedged starting blocks.
Each swimmer performs a preparatory isometric press by applying downward pressure onto their bent legs.
This👏 serves to preload the muscles and helps to make the subsequent dive more powerful.
Male swimmers wore full-body suits until the👏 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern swimwear counterparts experience.
Competition suits now include engineered fabric and👏 designs to reduce swimmers' drag in the water and prevent athlete fatigue.
In addition, over the years, pool designs have lessened👏 the drag.
Some design considerations allow for the reduction of swimming resistance, making the pool faster.
These include proper pool depth, elimination👏 of currents, increased lane width, energy absorbing racing lane lines and gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic,👏 and illumination designs.
There have been major changes in starting blocks over the past years.
Starting blocks used to be small, narrow👏 and straight[31] but through time they have become bigger and wider and nowadays the surface of the block is angled👏 towards the swimming pool.
[32] In addition, starting blocks now have a "wedge" which is a raised, slanting platform situated at👏 the rear of the main block.
This enables the swimmer to adopt a crouched position at a 90 degrees angle and👏 push off quicker with the rear leg to increase their launch power.[33]
The 1924 Summer Olympics were the first to use👏 the standard 50-meter pool with marked lanes.
In the freestyle, swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were👏 incorporated at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
The tumble turn was developed by the 1950s and goggles were first used in the👏 1976 Olympics.
There were also changes in the late 20th century in terms of technique.
Breaststrokers are now allowed to dip their👏 heads completely under water to glide, which allows for a longer stroke and faster time.
However, the breaststrokers must bring their👏 heads up at the completion of each cycle.
In addition, a key hole pull in the breaststroke start and turns has👏 been added to help speed up the stroke.
Now off the start and turns, breaststrokers are allowed one butterfly kick to👏 help increase their speed.
This change was made official in December 2014.
[34] Backstrokers are now allowed to turn on their stomachs👏 before the wall in order to perform a "flip-turn".
Previously, they had to reach and flip backwards and a variation of👏 it, known as a "bucket turn" or a "suicide turn", is sometimes used in individual medley events to transition from👏 backstroke to breaststroke.
Records
The foundation of FINA in 1908 signaled the commencement of recording the first official world records in swimming.
[35]👏 At that time records could be established in any swimming pool of length not less than 25 yards, and records👏 were also accepted for intermediate distance split times from long-distance events.
Today World Records will only be accepted when times are👏 reported by Automatic Officiating Equipment, or Semi-Automatic Officiating Equipment in the case of Automatic Officiating Equipment system malfunction.[36]
Records in events👏 such as 300 yd, 300 m, 1000 yd, and 1000 m freestyle, 400 m backstroke, and 400 m and 500👏 m breaststroke were no longer ratified from 1948.
A further removal of the 500 yd and 500 m freestyle, 150 m👏 backstroke, and 3×100 m medley relay from the record listings occurred in 1952.
In 1952, the national federations of the United👏 States and Japan proposed at the FINA Congress the separation of records achieved in long-course and short-course pools; however, it👏 was four more years before action came into effect with the Congress deciding to retain only records held in 50👏 m pools as the official world record listings.
By 1969 there were thirty-one events in which FINA recognised official world records👏 – 16 for men, 15 for women – closely resembling the event schedule that was in use at the Olympic👏 Games.
The increase in accuracy and reliability of electronic timing equipment led to the introduction of hundredths of a second to👏 the time records from 21 August 1972.
Records in short course (25 m) pools began to be officially approved as "short👏 course world records" from 3 March 1991.
Prior to this date, times in short course (25 m) pools were not officially👏 recognised, but were regarded a "world best time" (WBT).
From 31 October 1994 times in 50 m backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly👏 were added to the official record listings.
FINA currently recognises world records in the following events for both men and women.[37]
Historical👏 breakthroughs
- denotes instances that cannot be determined
Distance Styles Freestyle Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly Medley M W M W M W M👏 W M W 50m
under 30 sec 50m pool - - - - - 2009.
Jessica Hardy - - 25m pool -👏 - - - - 2002.
Emma Igelström - - 100m
under 1 min 50m pool 1922.
Johnny Weissmuller 1962.
Dawn Fraser 1964.
Thompson Mann 2002.
Natalie👏 Coughlin 2001.
Roman Sludnov +4sec 1960.
Lance Larson 1977.
Christiane Knacke 25m pool - - - - - +2.
5sec - - - 1999.
Jenny👏 Thompson 200m
under 2 min 50m pool 1963.
Don Schollander 1976.
Kornelia Ender 1976.
John Naber +4sec +7sec +19sec 1976.
Roger Pyttel +2sec 1991.
Tamás Darnyi👏 +6sec 25m pool - - - 2014.Katinka Hosszú +0.5sec +14.5sec - 2014.
Mireia Belmonte - +2sec 400m
under 4 min 50m pool👏 1973.
Rick DeMont 2009.
Federica Pellegrini +4sec +26sec 25m pool - 2003.
Lindsay Benko 2007.
László Cseh +19sec 800m
under 8 min 50m pool 1979.
Vladimir👏 Salnikov +5sec 25m pool - 2013.
Mireia Belmonte 1500m
under 15 min 50m pool 1980.
Vladimir Salnikov +26sec 25m pool - +20sec 4👏 × 100 m
under 4 min 50m pool 1938.
United States 1972.
United States 1964.
United States 2000.
United States 4 × 200 m
under 8👏 min 50m pool 1964.
United States 1986.
East GermanyHealth benefits
Swimming is a healthy activity that can be done by most people throughout👏 their life.
[38] It is a low-impact workout that has several mental and bodily health benefits all while being a good👏 recreational activity.
Swimming builds endurance, muscle strength, and cardiovascular fitness.
[39] Correspondingly, it also improves weight loss while being a safer alternative👏 of working out for someone who is injured or for women who are pregnant.
[40] Swimming generally requires less effort than👏 many other sports while still providing similar physical benefits.[41]The U.S.
Census Bureau reports that two and a half hours per week👏 of aerobic physical activity such as swimming can decrease the risk of chronic illnesses, and help regenerate healthy cells.
[42] Furthermore,👏 swimming is linked to better cognitive function; also lowering the risk of Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and a👏 stroke.
It can improve lung and heart strength while it tones muscles in a full body workout.
[38] People can typically exercise👏 longer in water than on land without increased effort and minimal joint or muscle pain.
When in the water the body👏 undergoes less physical stress thus releasing pressure from the joints.[43][44][45][46]
In addition to the physical benefits of swimming, lower stress levels👏 and occurrences of depression and anxiety are known to decrease while swimming.
Swimming is a meditation sport meaning there is an👏 increase of blood flow to the brain which allows an individual to evaluate stressors more calmly.
[47] For those with dementia👏 swimming has a number of positive benefits such as reducing anxiety and agitation, provides opportunities to socialize and contributes to👏 a positive sense of self-worth.[48]Common injuries
Here is where the rotator cuff is located, and what a tear would look like👏 in the shoulder
The rotator cuff in the shoulder is most susceptible to injury in swimmers.
Injury to the rotator cuff results👏 from repeated trauma and overuse.
[49] The joints are more prone to injury when the arm is repetitively used in a👏 position above the horizontal line of the body.
This position occurs in each of the four swimming strokes in every cycle👏 of the arms.
Out of the four tendons in the rotator cuff, the supraspinatus is most prone to tearing.
Rotator cuff impingement👏 is due to pressure on the rotator cuff from part of the scapula as the arm is raised.
The best way👏 to prevent injury is catching the issue early.
Typically, poor technique and over excessive use of the muscle group can be👏 the primary causes of injury.
Through communication between swimmers, coaches, parents, and medical professionals, any issue can be diagnosed prior to👏 a serious injury.
Additionally, proper warm-up, stretches, and strength training exercises should be completed before any rigorous movements.
In treating a rotator👏 cuff injury, the most important factor is time.
Due to the nature of the joint being primarily stabilized by muscle and👏 tendon, the injury must be fully healed to prevent recurrence.
Returning to swimming or other demanding exercises too soon can result👏 in degeneration of a tendon which might result in a rupture.
During the rehabilitation period, focus should be placed on rotator👏 cuff and scapular strengthening.[50]
Another common injury is breaststroke knee, also known as swimmer's knee.
This injury is caused by the kicking👏 movement used while swimming breaststroke.
The kicking movement will cause wear and tear on the knee and it will eventually lead👏 to constant pain.
In recent studies it has been found that initially, the pain is only experienced when the kick was👏 executed, but eventually the pain spread to other regular day-to-day activities, athletic and non-athletic.
[51]See alsoReferences
