Several Fun Facts About Swimming

---

Today we’re happy to present another guest post by a professional swimmer, Milica Gruić from Belgrade, Serbia. After this helpful guide, she prepared this list of fun facts about swimming.

Have fun!

---

The beginning of the new competitive season is nearby. –and many swimmers have already begun their preparations. Therefore, they go to the pool every day and spend hours and hours in the water, swimming tens of miles.

For this reason, I believe that they currently must think there is nothing interesting about swimming. However, here are some very interesting facts you probably didn’t know about this sport:

Fun facts, starting from history…

Ancient Egyptians and Assyrians were familiar with swimming. In Greece swimming was part of the general culture.

Swimming has been on the Olympics program since 1896.

The bikini swimsuit was named after a nuclear test in the South Pacific in the US, that took place at coral reef that reefs that bears the name “Bikini Atoll.”

Hungarian swimmer Gyorgy Tumpek in 1952 demonstrated a new style of swimming called “dolphin.”

Famous film actor Johnny Weissmüller who played the character of “Tarzan” is a five-time Olympic swimmer.

Mark Spitz is the first swimmer to win seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics. However, that record was broken by Phelps (Michael Phelps) with eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Synchronized swimming made its first appearance at the 1984 Olympic Games.

Benjamin Franklin was a famous American physicist, statesman and writer, yet in addition to that, he also invented swimming fins.

The first recorded swimming competition was in Japan.

…to the animal world…

Almost all mammals on earth have been able to swim since birth. However, humans are the only ones that have to “learn”.

Elephants are able to swim and can use all four legs and are able to move fairly quickly given their weight.

Studies have shown that sharks swim very fast, and that speed comes from V-shaped protrusions on the skin that allows for greater swimming efficiency.

“Speedo” – a well-known manufacturer of swimming equipment, made a fabric similar to the skin of a shark and made of a material called “fast skin”. Since shark skin reduces water resistance and turbulence, these “fast skin” bathing suits enable more efficient swimming.

…and beyond

An hour of vigorous swimming can burn up to 650 calories, so we can say that swimming burns more calories than walking or biking.

Peanuts are an excellent source of energy for swimmers.

Regular swimming strengthens the heart and lungs.

All muscle groups are trained in swimming.

Swimming reduces stress.

Water buoyancy makes it ideal for physical therapy and rehabilitation exercises. Therefore, swimming is a great choice for anyone who wants to exercise without putting a huge strain on their joints and muscles

Swimming is an excellent cardiovascular exercise (exercise for the heart, lungs and blood vessels) because the resistance to movement in water is 10 times higher than the resistance to air.

Over 50% of world-class swimmers suffer from some sort of shoulder pain.

We hope that you enjoyed these fun facts as much as you enjoy swimming! 🙂

---