Did you know that swimming is one of the oldest and most popular sports in the world? Here are some fun facts about swimming that you may not know:
a) Fun Swimming Facts: History
1. The first recorded instance of swimming was in 2650 BC by the Egyptians, about 10,000 years ago. The earliest records can be found in stone age paintings in the Cave of Swimmers in Egypt.
2. Swimming was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1896 and has been a part of every Summer Olympics since then.
3. Different styles of swimming (or ways of maneuvering the human body) are referred to as a stroke. Currently, there are four types of strokes or official swimming styles; front crawl (freestyle), Breaststroke, Backstroke, and Butterfly. The breaststroke is the oldest known stroke of these main four, while the freestyle is the fastest stroke of the four.
3. 2055 years ago, Japan hosted the first-ever swimming competition
4. The first-ever made goggles were made using tortoise shells.
5 . Benjamin Franklin invented swimming flippers and fins. This was to improve swimming performance for beginning and intermediate swimmers.
6. The largest pool in the world, which is located in Casablanca, Morocco, is seven times larger than a football field!
b) Fun Swimming Facts: Swimmers
7. Michael Phelps, an American swimmer, holds the record for both most world records set overall and Olympic medals earned. Phelps has set 39 world records, in addition, he has won 23 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze Olympic medals. After his outstanding performances at the 2016 Olympics, he decided to retire. He started swimming when he was just seven years old!
8. The youngest competitive swimmer in the history of the sport is only 10 years old. Alzain Tareq, a young swimmer from Bahrain, competed against swimmers twice her age who were adults and late teenagers in the 2015 World Championship event.
9. The oldest swimmer in the world is 100 years old. Yes, you did read that right. Mieko Nagaoka from Japan is the oldest swimmer in the world at 100 years old. She broke the record in 2015; becoming the first centenarian and the oldest woman to complete the 1500-meter freestyle swim. It’s interesting to note that she began swimming at the age of 80 to heal a knee issue.
10. In the women’s competition swimming, Sarah Sjöström of Sweden and Katinka Hossz of Hungary tie for the most records. The 50-meter, 100-meter, 200-meter, 50-meter, and 100-meter butterfly freestyle records are now held by Sjöström. Hossz became the first woman to win four straight world titles in a single event because of her record-breaking swimming performances.
c) Fun Swimming Facts: Exercise
11. Swimming can help you lose weight, as it burns calories quickly. In fact, it’s been shown that swimming for just 30 minutes can burn over 200 calories
12. Swimming is an excellent workout for your whole body – it’s low-impact but still gives you a good cardio workout and can help to tone your muscles.
13. Swimming for fitness has been shown to burn up to 40% more calories per hour than cycling, and 30% more per hour than running. This is largely because swimming engages all the muscle groups and organs (yes, the lungs and heart get a massive boost) once.
14. Another fact about swimming is swimmers also sweat! We sometimes overlook how much energy is used when swimming. Swimmers sweat as a result of the energy they expend, though being in water frequently hides this.
15. Polyester is the ideal fabric for swimming. The structure of polyester makes it easier for the body to move through the water.
We hope you enjoyed learning these fun facts about swimming! If you’re looking to take up this great sport. Check out our shop for swimwear, goggles, and caps.
Writer: Roseline Maina