A Brief History of Swimming

History of Swimming

Swimming has been around since the beginning of human life on earth, and over the millennia, the sport has evolved and changed as we’ve learned more about our environment, our bodies, and ourselves. In this article, we’ll look at how swimming has changed over time, from prehistoric swimming to modern times. Read on to learn more about how swimming came to be!

Ancient Egypt

The oldest evidence for swimming can be found in Ancient Egypt as hieroglyphs depicting the sport were found in a temple which was created somewhere between 2700 BC and 2500 BC. The hieroglyphs depict people swimming naked with an animal's head sticking out on top. The game, known as Eidolon Tholkiathr was played to determine which god would look after a person or city for the next year. Records show that Pharaohs were also partial to taking part in this sporting event and even went so far as to allow the female members of their court to do so too! Alongside this, there are records of Greek historians such as Herodotus (484-425 BC) who mentioned a race he witnessed when he was visiting Egypt around 440BC where men raced across the water by kicking up their legs behind them in order to propel themselves forward.

Ancient Greece

Swimming has an interesting history as it has been around for centuries, yet is still debated about whether or not its a sport. One of the earliest forms of swimming was called antiquity. This originated in ancient Greece and was used for exercise but also as a game played by citizens. Men used to swim out into the open sea and form themselves into teams to try and bring back items they had thrown out before hand, such as pottery or some type of valuable object. In order to stay competitive, divers would breathe through reeds with one end submerged in water. Another form that came about was called island hopping which involved crossing over large distances by literally hopping from island to island while trying not to drown before finishing the journey.

Ancient Rome

History has noted that the first instance of swimming was observed in ancient Rome, before they had established public baths. This can be attributed to the fact that Romans were an outdoors-oriented people and bathing outside with a bucket full of hot water and a sponge or cloth was common place. The most popular form of bathing for those in Ancient Rome, however, was the mass bath. For those lucky enough to have a wealthy patron sponsoring it, this bath could last up to three hours and many citizens could visit daily. Additionally, there are records which show the existence of private pools at different villas. These pools often contained cold plunge pools at one end for cooling off as well as heated water for relaxing. One of these records also indicates a connection between swimming and healing 

the sick. It is believed that patients might have been taken out into lakes or rivers to allow them to cool off as part of their treatment.

Middle Ages

Early in the Middle Ages, Europeans learned to swim from observing African people. The explorers who first came into contact with African natives quickly became fascinated by the fact that they could stay submerged in water for extended periods of time without drowning. They were so curious about how Africans were able to do this that they began experimenting on a variety of animals, hoping to find the answer. Eventually, they determined that rather than animal lungs inhaling air and then expelling it with each breath, human lungs are constantly filtering oxygen out of water and storing it within them as soon as a person becomes submerged under water. This discovery led European explorers to make an even more important breakthrough - they learned that water could be used as a weightless substance with which one could move through more easily than through land.

Elizabethan England

In 1603 the first swimming lesson in England was introduced, taught by Thomas Walsingham. At this time in history, water was considered to be a threat to one's health and many regarded it as unclean. Eventually some pools were constructed but only the nobility could enjoy them while commoners used ponds or rivers. When hygiene became more important and people became more confident with the water, bathing suits were invented as well as diving bells. Between 1580 and 1650 swimming experienced what is known as its renaissance period. Back then, bathing had a very different meaning than we know today; it referred to immersion in warm water for therapeutic purposes rather than going for a swim. The use of bathtubs for soaking dates back centuries before Jesus Christ and even during the Roman Empire baths were popular centers for public activity. Throughout the Middle Ages wealthy Europeans took baths from tubs filled with hot water, sometimes heated over an open fire.

18th Century England

Swimming in the 18th century England typically only involved jumping or being pushed into a pond, river, or lake. Parents often felt the best way to teach their children how to swim was to put them in water and wait for them to sink and then pull them out again. Needless to say, this was dangerous and many children died from this process. Another method in which parents attempted to teach their children how to swim is called baptism. In this scenario, adults would take babies that could not yet walk and hold them at a depth where they could no longer touch the bottom of the pond. When adults tried this with infants that were too young or if the water was too cold, it often caused paralysis leading some children die from those experiences.

19th Century Europe

Swimming didn't really become a mainstream sport until the 1800s. In the 1850s, Henry William Bartlett proposed an experiment to see if humans could swim before being born. By submerging pregnant women up to their necks in water for about ten minutes and timing how long it took for them to deliver healthy babies, he learned that in his nine trials (involving more than 1000 participants), none delivered prematurely. Later experiments found that fetuses actually move around inside the womb when submerged, which was another indication that infants are born ready for water from the moment they exit the womb.

20th Century United States

Swimming became popular in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, and it was mainly used for recreation. In the 1950s, competition swimming was more formalized with more defined lengths for the different distances. By 1956 there were five Olympic swimming distances: 25 meter, 50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, and 400 meter freestyle; 100-meter backstroke; 200-meter individual medley; 4x100m freestyle relay; 4x200m freestyle relay. American Phil Spitz won six gold medals at a single Olympics (1964). His twin brother Bob also won six gold medals (at 1968 Olympics). Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics. Greg Louganis had an illustrious career from 1979 to 1996 and was Olympian 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992, while winning three gold medals (1980) one silver medal (1984)