A skill originating out of necessity rather than sport, swimming is one of the most ancient of Olympic activities.
Although mentioned in Greek mythology and the Old Testament, modern competitive swimming did not begin until the early 19th century when the National Swimming Society of Great Britain began conducting competitions. Early swimmers used the breaststroke until Frederick Cavill and Henry Wickham developed the faster freestyle or "crawl" in Australia in the late 1800s.
Included on the Olympic Programme since the first Modern Games, the early Olympic swimming competitions included only freestyle and breaststroke races. The backstroke was added in 1904, and women began competing in 1912. In the 1940s, the butterfly evolved as a way of circumventing the breaststroke rules, and was added as its own event in 1956.
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for
the Olympic Games Sports Publication Department. Written by Howard
Thomas.
| Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium. |