history

of
swimming
T I M E L I N E

10,000 years
ago
Evidence of recreational
swimming in pre-historic
times has been found, with
the earliest evidence dating
the Stone Age paintings
2000 B.C
Written references with some of
the earliest references to
swimming including the Iliad,
the Odessy, the Bible, Beowulf,
the Quaran and others.

1538
Nikolaus Wynmann, a German
professor of languages,
wrote the first swimming
book, The swimmer or A
Dialogue on the Art of
Swimming.

1587
It is believed that the first
book devoted to swimming was
Colymbetes by Nicolas Wynman
written in 1538, and a more
widely recognized text, De Arte
Nantandi, was published in
Latin by EverardDigby in 1587

1800s and
1900s
Organized swimming began
with the creation of
swimming associations (for
example, the Amateur
Swimming Association in
1886) and clubs that
competed against each other. 1828-1830
In 1828, the first indoor
swimming pool, St. George
Baths was opened to the
public. Swimming emerged as a
competitive recreational
activity in 1830’s in England.

1837
National Swimming Society was
holding regular swimming
competitions in six
artificial swimming pools,
built around London. The
recreational activity grew on
popularity and by 1800, when
the first national governing
body, the Amateur Swimming
1844
Association, was formed, Two native American
there were already over 300 participants at a swimming
regional clubs in operation competition in
across the country. London introduced the front
crawl to a European audience.

Kyla Allyza Dolceamor R. Fernandez

BSN 2B - GIRON - TUPAZ

1875
Captain Matthew Webb was the
first man to swim English
Channel (between England and
France). Using the
breaststroke technique, he
swam the channel 21. 26 miles
(34.21km) in 21 hours and 45
minutes. His feat was not
replicated or surpassed for

1911 the next 36 years.

T.W. Burgess made the

1882-1896
Other European countries also
established swimming
federations; Germany in 1882,
France in 1890 and Hungary in
1896.

1889
The first European amateur
swimming competitions were
in 1889 in Vienna.

1892
The world’s first women’s
swimming championship was held
in Scotland in 1892.

1896
Men’s swimming became part
of the first modern Olympic
Games in 1896 in Athens.

1902
In 1902, the Australian
Richmond Cavill introduced the
front crawl to the Western
world.

1908
In 1908, the world’s swimming
association, Federation
Internationale de Natation
(FINA) was formed.

1912
Women's swimming was
introduced into the Olympics
in 1912

1922
The first international
tournament for women outside
the Olympics and the first
international tournament for
women outside the Olympics 1930
was the 1922 Women’s Olympiad Butterfly was developed in 1930’s
and was at first variant of
breaststroke, until it was accepted
as separate style in 1952.

Kyla Allyza Dolceamor R. Fernandez

BSN 2B - GIRON - TUPAZ