Olympic Swimming

The history of Olympic swimming dates back to the Athens Olympic Games of 1896. In one of three scheduled swimming events - a 100-meter freestyle race, the winner was Alfred Hajos of Hungary. The Paris Olympics, the second Olympic Games, increased interest, but the swimming races used were unique and never again part of the Olympic Games.

A commonality among early Olympic Games was the milieu. There was no Olympic swimming pool. All races took place in nearby bodies of water. In Paris, swimmers swam in the Seine. Holding events in a pool, although not a modern Olympic sized swimming pool - The dimensions for an Olympic size swimming pool are 50 meters long by eight lanes wide - first happened in 1908. This same year saw the backstroke emerge as a new swim stroke.

In 1908, the program of swimming events began to resemble the current Olympic program. There were, however, no female swimmers. This did not happen until 1912 at the Stockholm Olympic Games. The addition of more events and women eventually increased the popularity of swimming at the Games. Today, swimming is one of the glamorous sports of the Summer Olympic Games. It features a growing number of record breakers and medal holders.

	More Info

The history of Olympic swimming reveals many such men and women. There was Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, a Hawaiian who won the 200-meter freestyle event in 1912 and 1920. There was also the now famous swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller who set one of the first early significant Olympic swimming records. He swam the 100-meter freestyle in less than a minute.

Olympic swimming records rise and fall over time. Legends arise in the Olympic swimming pool. Who can forget the American, Mark Spitz and his seven gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games or Edith Brigitha of Caracao, the first Black female swimmer to win two medals in the 1976 Olympic Games. The 2004 Olympic swimming results saw the United States claim 12 gold medals as well as nine silver and seven bronze. In 2004, Olympic swimming saw the falling of many records set by the East German swimming teams 17 years ago. This included their record in the 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay. The American team, consisting of Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Kaitlin Sandeno and Dana Vollmer swam just over two seconds faster to set a new Olympic record. The next Summer Olympic Games occur in 2008.