History  People have been swimming for thousands of years, the only country where swimming races were a common occurrence before the 1800’s was Japan.  Japan was totally closed to other countries at the time, so the practice did not go around.  In the 1830’s swimming clubs started being formed in England and swimmers began racing against each other to see who was fastest.  They swam using breaststroke.

Olympics  In 1986, swimming became an Olympic sport for men with the 100 meters and 50 meters freestyle competitions.  For a variety of reasons, women were excluded from swimming in the first several Olympic games.  It was only at the 1912 games when women swimming made its debut at the prompting of the group that later became known as the International Olympic Committee.

What is swimming? What is swimming?  Swimming is moving through the water by using the arms and legs.  It is a popular form of a recreation, an important international sport and a helpful exercise. Skills  A swimmers performances in a race partly depends on the skill used in starting the race and in turning at the end of each lap, at the start of a stroke.

Equipment  Bathers  Goggles  Swimming cap  Swimming pool  In swimming there is actually no scoring.  The aim of swimming is to reach the end of the pool the fastest by overtaking your opponents.  If you dive in the pool before the starting gun sounds you get automatic disqualification. Scoring

Ian Thorpe  Born : Sydney, 13 th October 1982  won three gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games and a record of six gold medals at the 2001 World Championships.  regarded as the best swimmer in recent times and could become known as one of the best swimmers.  concentrates on freestyle events as has won major races from 200 metres up to 800 metres.

Interesting Facts  Swimming began in the 1 st century.  Over 50% of world class swimmers suffer from shoulder pain.  Peanuts are a good source of energy for swimmers.  If your hair is shorter you have a better chance of swimming faster because there is less friction.

Landmark Events  1500 metres Freestyle at Atlanta Olympics.  In 1966, millions of Australians watched the final of the 1500 metres freestyle at Atlanta Olympic games. the 1500 metres freestyle at Atlanta Olympic games.  They wanted to see if there hero, Kieren Perkins, could repeat his success at the 1992 Olympics. could repeat his success at the 1992 Olympics.  Everything seemed to be against Kieren.  only just qualified for the Australian Olympic team, had suffered from a mystery illness and was the last qualifier for the final.

References Books: Sports Action Swimming Australian Sports Websites:

Thanks for watching our presentation! We hope you have enjoyed it! Lauryn & Joyce