The international competitions of the various sports that we often see on television usually leave ‘pearls’ or very curious facts that it is always interesting to review with lifeguard course. Precisely, in this article, we propose you to know some curiosities of swimming that many sports fans do not know.
But the striking data that we are going to present does not only have to do with the present and the cameras that record everything. Some are rather historical aspects or rules that are conspicuous for their rigor or extravagance. Join us on this tour!
5 curiosities of swimming
1. The first competitions
For ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians or Greeks, swimming was an indispensable skill, and it was even part of the education of these communities. In Japan, there has been a history of people swimming in the 1st century BC
However, it did not emerge as a competitive discipline until the late 18th century in England. The National Swimming Society was one of the first entities dedicated to this sport and its practice. It was founded in 1837 in London.
A few decades later, in the 1970s of the 19th century, other countries began to register competitions. Not coincidentally, many of them were related to the United Kingdom: the United States, Australia, New Zealand …
2. Perfect Olympic attendance
Along with athletics, swimming is one of the fundamental pillars of today’s Olympism with the lifeguard course. The revival of the Olympic Games in 1896 was, according to historians, the definitive consecration of this sport as one of the most popular in the world.
Women’s swimming came a little later, it was in Stockholm in 1912 when they disputed the first women’s competitions. Since then, both male and female swimming have been present –and occupying a leading role– in all the Olympic editions held with the lifeguard course.
3. Pool quality standards
One of the curiosities of swimming is that international tests have very strict rules regarding the condition of the pools. For this section, we will take as a reference the general regulations published by the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation.
For example, to swim the water must be between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius; it can vary for certain disciplines such as water polo (26 degrees) or synchronized swimming (27 degrees).
Likewise, the room temperature must also be regulated, which cannot exceed 28 degrees, and must be two or three degrees above the water temperature. The humidity of the enclosure, on the other hand, has to be between 55% and 65%, according to this regulation.
On the other hand, transparency is also an important factor. Why is this required? To that swimmers should be able to see the lines of the bottom of the pool to racing.
4. Olympic draws
Does it seem possible that a swimming race of the highest level ends up tied? Well, this happened, and nothing less than in an Olympic final and in the first place! The curious fact occurred in the women’s final of the 100 meters free of Rio 2016. That August 11, Simone Manuel (United States) and Penelope Oleksiak (Canada) scored 52.70 seconds. This time, in addition, was an Olympic record.
But this did not stop there: in the Brazilian event there was also a draw in the men’s competition, and it was even triple! This unusual equality occurred in second place in the final of the 100-meter butterfly. It is one of the curiosities of swimming, without a doubt, more amazing.
In that event, Michael Phelps (United States), Chad le Clos (South Africa), and László Cseh (Hungary) clocked 51.14 seconds. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling not only took gold in the singular race but also set the Olympic record of 50.39 seconds.
5. Early records
One fact that has marked swimming in recent times, as is often the case when great talents emerge, is the setting of new records by young athletes.
It happened, for example, at the 2019 Gwangju World Cup, when the Hungarian Kristof Milak, then 19 years old, broke Michael Phelps’ record in the 200m butterfly. The 1: 51.51 mark of the American was surpassed with a time of 1: 50.73 of the European.
Katie Ledecky is a very promising swimmer who at only 19 years old has already played two Olympic Games. And not only that, but he currently holds three world records!
In Rio 2016 he took the world records of 400 meters freestyle (3: 56.46) and 800 meters freestyle (8: 04.79). A few months earlier, at the TYM SwimPro Series in Indianapolis, he had set the world record for the 1500 meter freestyle (15: 20.48).
Swimming tests, guaranteed show
With everything seen above, it is clear that swimming is a sport that never disappoints the spectators, especially in major competitions. It has it all: specific rules, talents eager to make history, and even magical moments that not even the protagonists themselves can believe. Really impressive!
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