Fun Fact Friday: SWIMMING

 

• An hour of vigorous swimming will burn more than 600 calories
• Elephants can swim as many as 20 miles per day using their trunks as a natural snorkel
• More than 50% of world class swimmers suffer from shoulder pain
• The slowest Olympic swim stroke is the breaststroke
• The fastest Olympic swim stroke is the front crawl (also called "freestyle")
• Most of the top level swimmers will swim 4-5 hours per day, seven days per week. They typically swim 6-12 miles per day along with cross training
• You sweat while you swim even if you can't tell
• Water's buoyancy makes swimming the ideal exercise for physical therapy and rehabilitation
• The Olympics are swum in a 50 meter pool (also known as long course). Most NCAA and high school meets are in 25 yard (or meter) pools (also known as short course).
• The oldest form of swim stroke used is the breaststroke, dating back to the Stone Age
• Benjamin Franklin invented swim fins at the age of 11
• Egyptians made a picture or symbol for swimming as far back as 2500 B.C.
• The first recorded swim races were held in Japan in 36 B.C.
• Swimming first became an Olympic event in 1896
• Synchronized swimming first appeared in the Olympics during the 1984 games
• Swimming in the Olympics began as a mens only sport, but women were finally allowed to swim in 1912
• President Gerald Ford had the outdoor swimming pool built at the White House in 1975. In 1976 a pool house was added with a secret, underground passage that lets the First Family and their guests get from the house to the pool without going outside.
• The first person to cross the English Channel swimming from England to France was Captain Matthew Webb in 1875
• The first female to swim the English Channel is Gertrude Ederle, who was just a teenager at the time, in 1926.
• The first person to swim a mile in Antarctica (in only a Speedo, cap and goggles) in 32 degree waters was Lynne Cox. Check out her amazing story: SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA
• The oldest known concrete swimming pool was built in 1915 in Texas
• The first swimmer to break the 2 minute barrier in the 200 meters was Don Schollander in 1963
• Paul Biedermann holds the current 200 meter record in a time of 1:42:00
• An estimated 65,000 people in the USA do not know how to swim
• Swimmers really do shave their bodies before an important race, not only to get rid of the hair, but to rid the body of dead skin cells on the surface. Female swimmers will choose not to shave their legs for a few weeks leading up to race day to create "drag" in the pool and then just before the big race, they get a nice close shave. Shaving ones head is not as common as it once was because of the advancements in swim cap technology.
• Yes, swimmers pee in the pool