History of Swimming

The history of swimming goes way back to that of prehistoric times. Books written from 2000 to 1500 BC including the Bible have references to swimming. It was mostly used in these times as a means of cleansing. Any form of competitive swimming wasn’t formed until the 1800’s in Europe. It was included in the first Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

The history of swimming goes way back to that of prehistoric times. Books written from 2000 to 1500 BC including the Bible have references to swimming. It was mostly used in these times as a means of cleansing. Any form of competitive swimming wasn’t formed until the 1800’s in Europe. It was included in the first Olympics in 1896 in Athens, Greece.

It was noted that Ancient Egypt had cave drawings of humans swimming in the nearby sea. They often depicted a form of the breaststroke as the first type of swimming or something they used to call the front crawl. Ancient Egyptian, Grecian and Roman palaces were often equipped with swimming pools or baths. Often reserved for the elite that used them as relaxation pools and cleaning tubs.

It is noted by historians that swimming was also often used in battle. The Greeks were often regarded as solid swimmers and at the Battle of Salamis after a number of both Greek and Persian boats were destroyed it was said that all of the Persians drowned due to their inability to swim while the Greek prevailed.

The history of swimming is much easier to understand than other sports. Without any equipment to speak of an individual can take to the waters. Obviously those countries that had the most access to water were the first to adapt to swimming. History did not have the spreading of the sport as many other sports had encountered because it was basically already available. You either adopted swimming as a means of life or you just chose not to swim.

The evolution of swimming history expanded during the middle ages. A number of individuals took it upon themselves to write books about swimming. They were often focused on the ability to not drown rather than a perfect backstroke as you would imagine. Life saving concepts and techniques began to form throughout the next few hundred years and around the 18th and 19th century the sport began to evolve into more of a competition than just life safety. Swimming Associations and Clubs popped up all over the world. Some of the first in swimming history were in China, Sweden and Germany.
Schools began to believe that swimming was a natural part of any life education. Therefore, they began to teach swimming in schools not just as a life safety course but as an extracurricular activity. Schools and Universities began to adopt these practices and set up clubs and swim teams. Competitions began to arise around the mid 1800’s. England was the first to modernize the sport and incorporate an indoor swimming pool with a swim team. They began to formulate new swimming styles including the sidestroke. Shortly after this, variations of the freestyle began to form and credit can’t really be given to one person as so many were responsible for developing this technique.

The Olympic Games of 1896 in Athens was the first real platform for the sport. There only men competed in a number of events. Throughout the 1900’s the sport evolved and saw a number of stars arise. Johnny Weissmuller, the original Tarzan completed his ten year career by never losing a race and winning five Olympic medals.

Science and technology began to play a part in the sport throughout the 1900’s as well. When scientist and coaches began studying swimmers and there underwater techniques to improve times. The swimsuits began to change as well as any form of resistance was under scrutiny from all competitors. Goggles, swim caps and different variations of training have all evolved as well. The US has seen its share of great Olympians going back to Mark Spitz who won seven gold medals in the 1972 Olympics.

The sport has evolved to a very competitive and fun sport for anyone. That has always been the great appeal that anyone can swim and we have been for the past 3000 years…So goes the history of swimming.

Swimming Lessons for Babies

Mums and Bubs swimming lesson sessions are designed for babies aged between 6 and 24 months. Mothers or fathers go into the pool with the babies. Not every swim school will offer these lessons. So ring around and pick the one that you are most comfortable with. Make sure that all the lessons are conducted by a qualified instructor. . In Australia these sessions are usually called ‘Mums and Bubs Swimming Lessons’. Dads if you are reading this, it should not discourage you from taking your baby to the swimming lesson (and give mum a break).

The main aim of these swimming lessons is to instill water confidence in the babies. The whole lesson is designed to be a lot of fun. Every class usually has around 8 adults in it. Lots of rhymes are sung…There are usually some water toys as well…

Lot of children can be quite happy in water but when it comes to putting their face under water, they get a bit scared…These lessons slowly introduce the idea of putting the face under water…If your child is very uncomfortable the most important thing is for you to be relaxed…Be patient and encouraging. In time the child will be fine. Babies are also introduced to the concept of blowing bubbles in water…I remember when I took my daughter to these classes, at the end of each class, the babies were made to sit on the side of the pool…We sang ‘Humpty Dumpty’ to them and then at the end of the rhyme we encouraged them to leap forward into our hands…Most of the babies quite enjoyed this little game.

It is important for parents to realize that the aim here is not to teach your babies to swim…The aim is to instill water confidence in them…Don’t expect too much from them. Don’t be upset if your child does not take to the water straight away…I am telling this from my own experience…I have seen kids who were uncomfortable in the first sessions but grew up to become excellent swimmers. Supervise them at all times. Hold them and don’t think they can swim just because they are attending these swim classes. These classes don’t remove the risk of drowning. So have fun but keep safety in mind at all times. If you for some reason don’t prefer these swimming classes, then you can take your child to a public pool. This will probably be a bit cheaper. You can make up your own routine and have fun with your baby in the toddler pool. Take some water toys and may be even a water noodle. Sing and make the whole process lot of fun.

Always remember that kids can drown in the shallow end as well…So supervise them at all times. And just to be on the safe side it is probably a good idea for all parents to learn CPR and rescue methods. Some public pools have a small picnic area as well. After the fun at the pool, you both can have a picnic too. And one more thing – make sure that the water is nice and warm. Babies normally get quite tired after a swimming lesson. So the good news is that they will probably take a long nap after the swimming lesson (hopefully).

Give a boost to your health with swim lessons!

Swim lessons play an important role in keeping your body in perfect shape. This is something which is important both for the adults and kids if they want to stay healthy and fit throughout their lives. Especially for pregnant women, swimming is must. In fact doctors also suggest doing this act every day. By keeping all these things in mind, the swim academy in Dubai alleviates this concern for women and has come up with ladies swim lesson academy in Dubai where they will get the opportunity to learn swim lesson under the guidance of expert female swimmers or instructors. The academy has framed a special lesson program for both ladies and children where your babies can learn swim strokes with their mummies. At Dubai swim academy, they always try to offer the best swimming guidance to new born babies, children and women.