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The Swimming Portal

Swimming describes any method by which living creatures move themselves through water apart from walking on the bottom. The most common reason for swimming is probably recreation, where the swimmer enters the water merely for enjoyment. Swimming is a good way to relax, with many swimming styles suitable for recreational swimming. Most recreational swimmers prefer a style that keeps their head out of the water and uses an underwater arm recovery. Swimming is also a good form of exercise. Because the density of the human body is approximately similar to that of water, the body is supported by the water and therefore less stress is placed on joints and bones. Furthermore, the resistance against movement depends heavily on the speed of the movement, allowing the fine tuning of the exercise according to one's ability. For this reason swimming is frequently used as an exercise in rehabilitation after injuries or for the disabled. Swimming developed as a competitive sport in the 19th century and was part of the first modern Olympic games in 1896 in Athens. In 1908, a world swimming association, the Federation Internationale de Natation was established to regulate international competition.

  

Selected article

Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) – The International Swimming Federation – is the International Federation (IF) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competition in the aquatic sports. It is one of several IFs which administers a given sport/discipline for the IOC and/or international community. It is based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

FINA currently oversees competition in five aquatic sports: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open water swimming.

  

Selected picture

Swim off At the start of each period in a Water polo match, teams line up on their own goal line. Three players go both sides of the goal; the goalkeeper starts in the goal. At the referee's whistle, both teams swim to midpoint of the field (known as the sprint or the swim-off); the referee drops the ball near the side of the pool.

  

Categories

• Swimming
  • Swimmers
  • Swimming competitions
    • Swimming at the Olympics
      • Olympic swimmers
    • FINA World Aquatics Championships
    • FINA World Swimming Championships
  • Swimming coaches

  

Featured material

• Swimming World Swimmers of the Year

  

Selected athlete

Ian James Thorpe OAM (born October 13, 1982), also known as the Thorpedo, is an Australian swimmer who, after winning the 200 and 400 metre freestyle races at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, became known as one of the greatest middle-distance swimmers of all time. He has won five Olympic gold medals, more than any other Australian.

  

Quotes

I wouldn't say anything is impossible. I think that everything is possible as long as you put your mind to it and put the work and time into it - Michael Phelps

  

Did you know...

...that the Butterfly stroke was introduced as a separate stroke in 1952 because a loophole in the Breaststroke rules allowed the butterfly to be used, thus threatening the extinction of the classical breaststroke action?

  

Swimming news

On March 23, 2008 Alain Bernard of France broke Australian Eamon Sullivan's month-old 50-meter freestyle world record in a time of 21.50 seconds. He also set a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle the day before, with a time of 47.50.

  

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