Thursday, December 5, 2013


Wideman Pools
2565 US Hwy 67 South
Festus, MO 63628
636-931-7665
www.widemanpools.com

 
 

The Sport of Swimming


Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo), and Ryan Lockte have been inspiring children and adults alike in the world of swimming. Ian Thorpe's impressive Olympics career lead to him being remembered and his swimming style being compared to Michael Phelps and everyone knows how well Phelps did in Athens and Beijing. The fact that Phelps won nearly every race in Beijing is proof that training hard and practice can open the doors to whatever dreams one wants to chase.

In the swimming world, there are many safety issues to consider. How well of a swimmer is the person? How long have they been swimming? Can they hold their breath and swim at the same time? How comfortable do they feel in the water? If the person in question is uncomfortable in the water without someone else being there to help them or a floatation device, they should not be in competition until they do gain more confidence or more talent in swimming.

For the more advanced swimmer, there are several different strokes one can utilize while swimming for pleasure or competition. The stroke that is considered the hardest is the butterfly stroke. This is considered the hardest because it combines a dolphin kick with a windmill arm movement which begins at the stomach, goes over the head, and ends at the stomach. It is difficult because these two movements much be timed perfectly to get the maximum propulsion and the fastest result. The breaststroke is another hard stroke that swimmers may choose to do. Like the butterfly stroke, this stroke combines two different movements between the arms and legs. It utilizes a frog kick and a movement with the hands that begins at the breastbone, reaches out straight in front of the swimmer, and pulls the water back behind the swimmer. This arm movement is used once for every two frog kicks that the swimmer produces.

Freestyle is an easy stroke because it is a flutter kick combined with an over the head movement while the swimmer is face down the in the water. The backstroke is the same technique, except the swimmer is facing up, looking at the ceiling, instead of face down in the water. There are other strokes, like the dog paddle, the trudgen, the sidestroke, and the crawl, but these are rarely seen in competition, so they are not taught as frequently as the other strokes.

In terms of competition, the 2008 Olympics had 17 events in which swimmers competed. The freestyle swim consisted of the 50 meter, 100 meter, 200 meter, 400 meter, and 800 meter for women or the 1500 meter for men. Several of these races were won by Michael Phelps and many world records were shattered by various swimmers. The backstroke competition was the 100 meter and the 200 meter. The butterfly races consisted of the 100 meter and the 200 meter. The breaststroke competition held the same races. There were two individual races of 200 meters and 400 meters, in which the swimmer would alternate between the strokes, using all four as dictated. There were 3 relay races, which went 100 meters, 200 meters, and there was a 100 meter medley. The last race was a marathon race with was 10 kilometers long.

Ethan has been an online writer for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in sports, finance, and product reviews, you can also check out his latest website on Acqua Di Gio which reviews and lists the best Acqua Di Gio for a designer cologne scent.

Wideman Pools
2565 US Hwy 67 South
Festus, MO 63628
636-931-7665
 
 
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