Aquatics Swimming

INTRODUCTION

Swimming can be enjoyed for recreation, as exercise and as a competitive sport. Additionally many people enjoy watching Competitive Swimming either live or on television.

Pool The pool for competitions like the Commonwealth Games is 50m long and 25m wide. The water needs to be at least 2m deep and there are usually eight or nine lanes. Modern timing equipment is installed in the wall where the swimmers finish.

Competition swimming pool

Starting Blocks The swimmers in all races, except backstroke, start by diving in from starting blocks.

The blocks slope slightly towards the water and have a non-slip surface. Swimmers must be careful not to start early as they will be disqualified.

Swimming lanes The lanes are 2.5m wide and there are usually eight or nine lanes in a competition pool.

The ropes which mark the lanes are now designed to help keep the water surface smooth allowing swimmers to record better times.

Officials At a major swimming event, officials include a referee, a starter, turning judges, placing judges, stroke judges, timekeepers, recorders, marshals and many more.

STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004 1 AQUATICS SWIMMING HISTORY OF SWIMMING

Evidence has shown that as early as 2500 BC, the Ancient Egyptians were swimming in the ocean. In 1843, the first freestyle technique was seen in competition, used by a team of Red Indians from North America

Before FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) was set up Swapcard showing Swimming in 1908, competitive swimming included a variety of unusual at the Melbourne Olympics events, ranging from underwater swimming, obstacle swimming and ocean racing. One of the strangest was in 1908, where competitors performed a standing dive, then remaining motionless for 60 seconds, or until their heads broke the surface – whichever came first!

Women’s swimming events became a regular part of the Olympic Games in 1912 and it was in this year that Fanny Durack, Australia’s first female Olympic swimming Champion, won gold in the 100m Freestyle.

Swimming at the Commonwealth Games Swimming featured in the first Commonwealth Games in Hamilton, Canada in 1930.

Since then, Swimming has become one of the most popular programs in the Commonwealth Games.

Swapcard showing Swimming at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games

ABOUT SWIMMING The Australian national squad is known as the Telstra Dolphins. The Australian junior squads are known as the Flippers. The squad competes at many international events, including the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships and the Pan Pacific championships.

These are all “long-course” competitions as they are swum in a Freestyle (also known as pool which is 50m in length. Short-course competitions are also Australian crawl) held (in a 25m pool).

The four main swimming strokes are freestyle (also known as Australian crawl), backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Competition races are held in each stroke (and a combination - known as the medley). Some strokes have particular rules.

For example, the breaststroke kick cannot come above (or

Brooke Hanson on “break”) the water and backstrokers can only swim underwater the starting blocks for a distance of 15 metres from the start of the race. Officials monitor these requirements alongside the pool and at each end of the pool.

STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004 2 AQUATICS SWIMMING

ABOUT SWIMMING (EAD EVENTS)

Swimming is open to athletes from all disability groups. Events are divided into three classifications – visually impaired, athletes with a physical disability (functional) and athletes with an intellectual disability.

EAD Swimming event

Swimmers compete in one of 14 classifications depending on the type of disability and their functional ability. No prostheses may be worn during competition.

There are four disciplines in which swimmers compete - freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. The distances swum vary according to classification and the event.

Swimming is the only sport that combines the conditions of limb loss, cerebral palsy (coordination and movement restrictions), spinal cord injury (weakness or paralysis involving any combination of the limbs) and other disabilities (such as Dwarfism ( little people); major joint restriction conditions) across classes.

STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004 3 AQUATICS SWIMMING

SWIMMING EQUIPMENT

Swimsuits Lycra swimsuits are still universally worn, however, elite swimmers have the option of wearing technologically advanced suits, which have been designed to maximize the flow of water over the body, reducing the effects of drag.

Examples of these suits are ‘Aquablades’ and the latest from Speedo – ‘Fastskins FSII’. These suits are made in a variety of lengths, for example, full neck to knees or short legs.

Lycra racing swimsuits Goggles Swim goggles are intended primarily to protect the delicate eye area from the elements and salty or chlorinated water. Apart from making water sports more comfortable, properly fitting goggles could actually prevent injury.

There are a variety of goggles suited to the type of swimming Swim goggles an athlete does and to their age. For example, competition, juniors, kids, anti fog.

Swimming Caps Swimming caps not only protect the hair from the effects of chlorine and other pool chemicals, they are also designed to reduce the effect of water resistance over the head. Swimming caps can be made from Latex, Silicon or Lycra.

Swimming cap The new technologically advanced swimming caps are shaped to fit more closely over the head, for example, the Speedlite caps worn by a number of Athens Olympic competitors.

Training Aids There is a huge variety of training aids available, ranging from swim fins, swim paddles, Pull buoys, waterproof watches, kickboards, aquatic gloves and aquatic weight belts.

Electronic Timing Pads The pad at the end of each lane registers the swimmers time and sends it electronically to the timing system.

STARTING BLOCKS © State of Victoria, 2004 4 AQUATICS SWIMMING

SWIMMING – EVENT INFORMATION

Swimming in Australia has one of the highest participation levels of all sports, both from a competition and recreation perspective.

In Victoria alone there are some 170 Swimming clubs with more than 15,000 registered members.

The Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre (MSAC) is the venue for the Swimming program.

The M2006 swimming competition includes events for Elite Athletes with a Disability (EAD).

Competitors will have full access to the competition venue for at least seven days before the Games for training and getting used to the surroundings. A number of Melbourne's other indoor and outdoor 50-metre pools can be used as additional training venues.

Events

Event Male Female Events BACKSTROKE Event Male Female 50m FREESTYLE 100m 50m 200m 50m EAD BREASTSTROKE 100m 50m 100m EAD 100m 200m 200m 400m BUTTERFLY 800m 50m 1500m 100m 4 x 100m Relay 200m 4 x 200m Relay INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

200m

400m MEDLEY RELAY

4 x 100m

In 1924 and 1928, an American athlete, Johnny Weissmuller, won five gold and one bronze medal in Swimming at the Olympics. He also set 67 world swimming records and went onto to become famous for playing ‘Tarzan’ in twelve movies in the 1930's. He also played "Jungle Jim" in movies and television.

Natation is French for Swimming.

JOIN IN SWIMMING

Swimming can be performed either competitively or recreationally. To find out more about Swimming and where to take part, please contact:

Swimming Victoria: www.swimmingvictoria.org.au

Swimming Australian logo Australian Swimming: www.swimming.org.au