Middle Ages to 1800

Swimming was initially one of the seven agilities of knights during the Middle Ages, including
swimming with armour. However, as one swam in a state of undress, it became less popular as society
became more prudish in the early Modern period. For example, in the 16th century, a German court
document in the Vechta prohibited naked public swimming by children. Leonardo da Vinci made
early sketches of lifebelts.
n 1!"#, $icolas %ynman, a &erman professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book
Colymbetes. His purpose was to reduce the dangers of drowning. 'he book contained a good
methodical approach to learning breaststroke, and mentioned swimming aids such as air filled cow
bladders, reed bundles, and cork belts. n 1!(), Everard igby also wrote a swimming book,
claiming that humans could swim better than fish. *igby was a Senior Fellow at !t" #ohn$s %ollege&
%ambridge, interested in scientific method. His short treatise, De arte natandi, was written in +atin
and contained over ,- woodcut illustrations depicting various methods of swimming, including the
breaststroke, backstroke and crawl. *igby regarded the breaststroke as the most useful form of
swimming.'1( n 16-", the first national swimming organi.ation was established in /apan. Emperor
Go)*o+ei o, #apan declared that schoolchildren should swim.
n 16#6, the French author 0elchis1dech 'h1venot 2163- or 1631 to 16#34 wrote The Art of Swimming,
describing a breaststroke very similar to the modern breaststroke. 'his book was translated into 5nglish
and became the standard reference of swimming for many years to come6 it was read by 7en8amin
Franklin. n 1)-(, the first known lifesaving group, 9:hinkiang ;ssociation for the Saving of +ife,9
was established in :hina. 7en8amin Franklin is credited with the invention of swimming fins at the age
of ten, in 1)16. n 1)"#, &uts 0uts 2also spelled as &uts 0uth4 from Schnepfenthal, &ermany, wrote
Gymnastik fr die Jugend 2Exercise for youth4, including a significant portion about swimming. n
1)#,, <anonikus =ron.io de 7ernardi of taly wrote a two volume book about swimming, including
floating practice as a prere>uisite for swimming studies. n 1)#(, &uts 0uts wrote another book
leines !ehrbuch der Schwimmkunst "um Selbstunterricht 2Small study book of the art of swimming for
self#study4, recommending the use of a 9fishing rod9 device to aid in the learning of swimming. His
books describe a three step approach to learning to swim that is still used today. First, get the student
used to the water6 second, practice the swimming movements out of the water6 and third, practice the
swimming movements in the water. He believed that swimming is an essential part of every education.
0ore lifesaving groups were established in 1)6) 21)6(?4 in ;msterdam, 1))3 in :openhagen, and in
1)), in &reat 7ritain. n 1)6(, a humane society was established in the @nited States. n 1)#6, a 2still
existing4 swimming club, the @psala SimsAllskap, was founded in @ppsala, Sweden. 'he Haloren, a
group of salt makers in Halle, &ermany, greatly advanced swimming through setting a good example to
others by teaching their children to swim at a very early age.
-re).lympic era to 18/0
n 1(-,, the lifebelt was invented by %.H. 0allison, the device being known at that time as the
9SeamanBs Friend9. However, the lifebelts took up valuable space on ships, and the @nited States $avy
was worried about the devices being used by sailors to desert.
; 8ournal mentions 9swimming skates9 in France, which may be an early version of a surfboard.
=ne watershed event was a swimming competition in 1(,, in +ondon. %hile the 7ritish raced using
breaststroke, the $ative ;mericans swam a variant of the front crawl, which had been used by people
in the ;mericas, %est ;frica and some Cacific islands for generations, but was not known to the ritish.
;s the front crawl is much faster than the breaststroke, the $atives easily beat the 7ritishD Flying &ull
won the medal, swimming the 1!- feet 2,6 m4 in "- seconds, and second place went to another
;merican named 'obacco. 'heir stroke was described as making a motion with the arms 9like a
windmill9 and kicking the legs up and down. ;s this produced considerable splashing, it was
considered barbaric and 9unE5uropean9 to the 7ritish gentlemen, who preferred to keep their heads
above water. Subse>uently, the 7ritish continued to swim only breaststroke until 1()".
From 1(,), $ancy 5dberg was active as the first woman instructor in swimming in Stockholm, making
swimming lessons accessible for both gendersD she later also introduced swimming lessons for women
in *enmark and $orwayF3G6 her public swimming exhibitions from 1(!6 with her students were likely
among the first public exhibitions of women swimming in 5uropeF"G
;n ;mateur Swimming ;ssociation of &reat 7ritain was organi.ed in 1((- with more than "--
members. 'he main swimming styles were the breaststroke and the recently developed side stroke. n
the sidestroke, the swimmer lies on one side. nitially, the arms were brought forward under water, but
this was soon modified to bring the arm forward over water to reduce resistance and to improve the
speed, resulting in an overarm sidestroke. 'he legs were s>uee.ed together in a scissor style. n 1(#!, /.
H. 'hayers of 5ngland swam 1-- yards 2#1 m4 in a recordEbreaking 1D-3.!- using a sidestroke.
Sometime between 1()- and 1(#- 2the date is most often given as 1()"4, /ohn ;rthur 'rudgen
reintroduced the front crawl to 5ngland, having learned the stroke from $ative ;mericans during a trip
to South ;merica. His stroke, a variant of the front crawl, came to be called the 'rudgen or 'rudgeon.
'he arms were brought forward, alternating, while the body rolled from side to side. 'he kick was a
scissors kick such as that familiarly used in breaststroke, with one kick for two arm strokes, although it
is believed that the $ative ;mericans had indeed used a flutter kick. Front crawl variants used different
ratios of scissor kicks to arm strokes, or alternated with a flutter 2upEandEdown4 kick. 'he speed of the
new stroke was demonstrated by F.H.:. +ane in 1#-1, swimming 1-- yards 2#1 m4 in 1D--.-, an
improvement of about ten seconds compared to the breaststroke record. 'his style is the first 5uropean
version of the front crawl, the fastest swimming style known today. *ue to its speed the 'rudgen
became very >uickly popular around the world, despite all the ungentlemanlike splashing.
:aptain 0atthew %ebb was the first man to swim the 5nglish :hannel 2between 5ngland and France4,
in 1()!. He used breaststroke, swimming 31.36 miles 2",.31 km4 in 31 hours and ,! minutes. $o other
man or woman swam the channel for the next "1 years. He died in 1((3 while attempting to swim the
$iagara Falls. 'he first 5uropean amateur swimming competitions were in 1((# in Hienna.
n 1()#, <ing +udwig of 7avaria built a swimming pool in +inderhof castle.
Modern .lympic era a,ter the year 18/1
'he =lympic &ames were held in 1(#6 in ;thens, a maleEonly competition. Six events were planned
for the swimming competition, but only four events were actually contestedD 1-- m, !-- m, and 13--
m freestyle and 1-- m for sailors. 'he first gold medal was won by ;lfred Ha8os of Hungary in the 1--
m freestyle with a time of 1D33.3-. Ha8os was also victorious in the 13-- m event, and was unable to
compete in the !-- m, which was won by ;ustrian Caul $eumann. ;nother swimming competition of
1-- m for sailors included three &reek sailors in 7ay of Iea near Ciraeus, starting from a rowing boat.
'he winner was oannis 0alokinis in two minutes and 3- seconds. ; 1!-- m race was also performed.
n 1(#), :apt. Henry Sheffield designed a rescue can or rescue cylinder, now well known as the
lifesaving device. 'he pointed ends made it slide faster through the water, although it can cause
in8uries.
'he second =lympic games in Caris in 1#-- featured 3-- m, 1--- m, and ,--- m freestyle, 3-- m
backstroke, and a 3-- m team race 2see also Swimming at the 1#-- Summer =lympics4. 'here were
two additional unusual swimming events 2although common at the time4 D an obstacle swimming
course in the Seine river 2swimming with the current4, and an underwater swimming race. 'he ,--- m
freestyle was won by /ohn ;rthur /arvis in under one hour, the longest =lympic swimming race until
the 1-k marathon swim was introduced in 3--(. 'he backstroke was also introduced to the =lympic
&ames in Caris, as was water polo. 'he $sborne Swimming Club from 0anchester beat club teams
from 7elgium, France and &ermany >uite easily.
'he 'rudgen was improved by ;ustralianEborn Jichmond :avill 2born Sydney 1((,4. :avill, whose
father Frederick :avill narrowly failed to swim the 5nglish :hannel, is credited with developing the
stroke by observing a young boy from the Solomon sland, ;lick %ickham. :avill and his brothers
2Sydney, :harles, ;rthur, 5rnest and Cercy4 were all champion swimmers and formed arguably the
greatest swimming dynasty. 'hey spread the ;ustralian crawl to 5ngland, $ew Iealand and ;merica.
Jichmond E or *ick as he was better known E used this stroke in 1#-3 at an nternational
:hampionships in 5ngland to set a new world record by out swimming all 'rudgen swimmers over the
1-- yards 2#1 m4 in -D!(.,F,G
'he =lympics in 1#-, in St. +ouis included races over !- yards 2,6 m4, 1-- yards, 33- yards 23-- m4,
,,- yards, ((- yards 2(-- m4 and one mile 21.6 km4 freestyle, 1-- yards 2#1 m4 backstroke and ,,-
yards 2,-- m4 breaststroke, and the ,x!- yards freestyle relay 2see also Swimming at the 1#-, Summer
=lympics4. 'hese games differentiated between breaststroke and freestyle, so that there were now two
defined styles 2breaststroke and backstroke4 and freestyle, where most people swam 'rudgen. 'hese
games also featured a competition to plunge for distance, where the distance without swimming, after
8umping in a pool, was measured.
n 1#-) the swimmer ;nnette <ellerman from ;ustralia visited the @nited States as an 9@nderwater
7allerina9, a version of Synchroni.ed swimming, diving into glass tanks. She was arrested for indecent
exposure, as her swimsuit showed arms, legs and the neck. <ellerman changed the suit to have long
arms and legs, and a collar, still keeping the close fit revealing the shapes underneath. She later starred
in several movies, including one about her life.
n 1#-(, the world swimming association F1d1ration nternationale de $atation ;mateur 2F$;4 was
formed.
%omen were first allowed to swim in the =lympic &ames in 1#13 in Stockholm, competing in
freestyle races. 2%omen could participate in golf and tennis since 1#-- in Caris4 n the 1#13 games,
Harry Hebner of the @nited States won the 1-- m backstroke. ;t these games *uke <ahanamoku from
Hawaii won the 1-- m freestyle, having learned the six kicks per cycle front crawl from older natives
of his island. 'his style is now considered the classical front crawl style. 'he menKs competitions were
1-- m, ,-- m, and 1!-- m Freestyle, 1-- m backstroke, 3-- m and ,-- m breaststroke, and four by
3-- m freestyle relay. 'he womenBs competitions were 1-- m freestyle and four by 1-- m freestyle
relay.
=n 3( /uly 1#13, an (-- m long pier in 7in. on the island of JLgen, &ermany collapsed under the load
of 1--- people waiting for the cruise steamer ron%rin" &ilhelm. Sailors of the &erman navy were
able to save most people, but 1) people died because they could not swim, including seven children.
'his catastrophe caused the foundation of the Deutsche !ebens#'ettungs#Gesellschaft (D!'G)
2&erman lifesaving organi.ation4 on =ctober 1#, 1#1" in +eip.ig. n the same year the first elastic
swimsuit was made by the sweater company Jant"en.
n 1#33, /ohnny %eissmuller became the first person to swim the 1-- m in less than a minute, using a
six kicks per cycle ;ustralian crawl. /ohnny %eissmuller started the golden age of swimming, winning
five =lympic medals and "6 national championships and never losing a race in his tenEyear career, until
he retired from swimming and started his second career starring as 'ar.an in film. His record of !1
seconds in 1--Eyard 2#1 m4 freestyle stood for over 1) years. n the same year, Sybil 7auer was the
first woman to break a menBs world record over the ,,- m backstroke in 6D3,.(.
;t the 1#3, Summer =lympics in Caris, lane dividers made of cork were used for the first time, and
lines on the pool bottom aided with orientation.
!wimming innovation
&raphic data for %orld Jecord Crogression in 0en and %omen Swimming !-mE1--mE3--m +ong and
Short :ourse 7utterflyE7ackstrokeE7reaststrokeEFreestyle
'he scientific study of swimming began in 1#3( with *avid ;rmbruster, a coach at the @niversity of
owa, who filmed swimmers underwater.Fcitation neededG 'he /apanese also used underwater
photography to research the stroke mechanics, and subse>uently dominated the 1#"3 Summer
=lympics. ;rmbruster also researched a problem of breaststroke where the swimmer was slowed down
significantly while bringing the arms forward underwater. n 1#", ;rmbruster refined a method to
bring the arms forward over water in breaststroke. %hile this 9butterfly9 techni>ue was difficult, it
brought a great improvement in speed. =ne year later, in 1#"!, /ack Sieg, a swimmer also from the
@niversity of owa developed a techni>ue involving swimming on his side and beating his legs in
unison similar to a fish tail, and modified the techni>ue afterward to swim it face down. ;rmbruster
and Sieg combined these techni>ues into a variant of the breaststroke called butterfly with the two
kicks per cycle being called dolphin fishtail kick. @sing this techni>ue Sieg swam 1-- yards 2#1 m4 in
1D--.3. However, even though this techni>ue was much faster than regular breaststroke, the dolphin
fishtail kick violated the rules and was not allowed. 'herefore, the butterfly arms with a breaststroke
kick were used by a few swimmers in the 1#"6 Summer =lympics in 7erlin for the breaststroke
competitions. n 1#"(, almost every breaststroke swimmer was using this butterfly style, yet this stroke
was considered a variant of the breaststroke until 1#!3, when it was accepted as a separate style with a
set of rules.
;round that time another modification to the backstroke became popular. Creviously, the arms were
held straight during the underwater push phase, for example by the top backstroke swimmer from 1#"!
to 1#,!, ;dolph <iefer. However, ;ustralian swimmers developed a techni>ue where the arms are bent
under water, increasing the hori.ontal push and the resulting speed and reducing the wasted force
upward and sideways. 'his style is now generally used worldwide. n 1#"! topless swimsuits for men
were worn for the first time during an official competition.
n 1#," the @S ordered the reduction of fabric in swimsuits by 1-M due to wartime shortages, resulting
in the first two piece swimsuits. Shortly afterwards the 7ikini was invented in Caris by +ouis Jeard
2officially4 or /ac>ues Heim 2earlier, but slightly larger4.
;nother modification was developed for breaststroke. n breaststroke, breaking the water surface
increases the friction, reducing the speed of the swimmer. 'herefore, swimming underwater increases
the speed. 'his led to a controversy at the 1#!6 Summer =lympics in 0elbourne, and six swimmers
were dis>ualified as they repeatedly swam long distances underwater between surfacing to breathe. 'he
rule was changed to re>uire breaststroke to be swum at the surface starting with the first surfacing after
the start and after each turn. However, one /apanese swimmer, 0asaru Furukawa, circumvented the
rule by not surfacing at all after the start, but swimming as much of the lane under water as possible
before breaking the surface. He swam all but ! m under water for the first three !- m laps, and also
swam half under water for the last lap, winning the gold medal. 'he adoption of this techni>ue led to
many swimmers suffering from oxygen starvation or even some swimmers passing out during the race
due to a lack of air, and a new breaststroke rule was introduced by F$;, additionally limiting the
distance that can be swum under water after the start and every turn, and re>uiring the head to break the
surface every cycle. 'he 1#!6 &ames in 0elbourne also saw the introduction of the flip turn, a sort of
tumble turn to faster change directions at the end of the lane.
n 1#)3, another famous swimmer, 0ark Spit., was at the height of his career. *uring the 1#)3
Summer =lympics in 0unich, &ermany, he won seven gold medals. Shortly thereafter in 1#)", the first
swimming world championship was held in 7elgrade, Nugoslavia by the F$;.
7reaking the water surface reduces the speed in swimming. 'he swimmers *aichi Su.uki 2/apan4 and
*avid 7erkoff 2;merica4 used this for the 1-- m backstroke at the 1#(( Summer =lympics in Seoul.
7erkoff swam "" m of the first lane completely underwater using only a dolphin kick, far ahead of his
competition. ; sports commentator called this a *erkoff *lastoff. Su.uki, having practiced the
underwater techni>ue for 1- years, surfaced only a little bit earlier, winning the race in !!.-!. ;t that
time, this was not restricted by F$; backstroke rules. 'he backstroke rules were >uickly changed in
the same year by the F$; to ensure the health and safety of the swimmers, limiting the underwater
phase after the start to ten meters, which was expanded to 1! m in 1##1. n Seoul, <ristin =tto from
5ast &ermany won six gold medals, the most ever won by a woman.
;nother innovation is the use of flip turns for backstroke. ;ccording to the rules, a backstroke
swimmer had to touch the wall while lying less than #- degrees out of the hori.ontal. Some swimmers
discovered that they could turn faster if they rolled almost #- degrees sideways, touched the wall, and
made a forward tumble turn, pushing off the wall on their backs. 'he F$; has changed the rules to
allow the swimmers to turn over completely before touching the wall to simplify this turn and to
improve the speed of the races.
Similarly, the dolphinEkick underwater swimming techni>ue is now also used for butterfly.
:onse>uently, in 1##( F$; introduced a rule limiting swimmers to 1! meters underwater per lap
before they must surface. ;fter underwater swimming for freestyle and backstroke, the underwater
swimming techni>ue is now also used for butterfly, for example by *enis Cankratov 2Jussia4 or ;ngela
<ennedy 2;ustralia4, swimming large distances underwater with a dolphin kick. F$; is again
considering a rule change for safety reasons. t is faster to do butterfly kick underwater for the first few
meters off the wall than swimming at the surface. n 3--!, F$; declared that you may take 1
underwater dolphin kick in the motion of a breaststroke pullEout.
n 1##(, 7enoOt +ecomte swam across the ;tlantic =cean, a total of !,6-- kilometres in )3 days,
swimming 6 to ( hours daily. He was accompanied by three sailors on a boat.
Sophisticated bodyskins were banned from F$; competitions from the start of 3-1- after many
national swimming federations demanded the action, and leading athletes such as 0ichael Chelps and
Jebecca ;dlington criti.ed the suits