History of Swimming

Pools
History

Ancient Roman baths in Bath Spa,England, United Kingdom

The "Great Bath" at the site of Mohenjo-Daro was most likely dug
during the 3rd millennium BC. This pool is 12 by 7 meters, is lined
with bricks and was covered with a tar-based sealant.[2]
Ancient Greeks and Romans built artificial pools for athletic
training in the palaestras, for nautical games and for military
exercises. Roman emperors had private swimming pools in which
fish were also kept, hence one of the Latin words for a
pool, piscina. The first heated swimming pool was built by Gaius
Maecenas of Rome in the first century BC. Gaius Maecenas was
a rich Roman lord and considered one of the first patrons of arts.[3]
Ancient Sinhalese built pairs of pools called "Kuttam Pokuna" in
the kingdom of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka in the 4th century BC.
They were decorated with flights of steps, punkalas or pots of
abundance and scroll design.[4]
Deep Eddy Pool, built in 1915, is the oldest concrete swimming pool
in Texas,United States.

Swimming pools became popular in Britain in the mid 19th

century. By 1837, six indoor pools with diving boards were built
in London, England.[5] The oldest surviving Swimming Club in the
World is believed to be the Arlington Baths Club in Glasgow,
Scotland. The Arlington was founded in 1870 and is still an active
Club to this day and continues to own its original Victorian
building with 21M Pool. After the modern Olympic Games began
in 1896 and included swimming races, the popularity of swimming
pools began to spread. In 1839,Oxford had its first major public
indoor pool at Temple Cowley, and swimming began to take off.
Chlorine was added to the waters to make it cleaner since many
people are using the pools. The Amateur Swimming Association
was founded in 1869 in England,[6] and the Oxford Swimming
Club in 1909 with its home at Temple Cowley Pool. The presence
of indoor baths in the cobbled area of Merton Street, London may
have persuaded the less hardy of the aquatic brigade to join. So,
bathers gradually became swimmers, and bathing pools
swimming pools. Pool supplies becam prominent during this
years.
In the USA, the Racquet Club of Philadelphia clubhouse (1907)
boasts one of the world's first modern above-ground swimming
pools. The first swimming pool to go to sea on an ocean liner was
installed on the White Star Line's Adriatic in 1907.
Interest in competitive swimming grew following World War I.
Standards improved and training became essential. Home
swimming pools became popular in the United States after World
War II and the publicity given to swimming sports
by Hollywood films like Esther WilliamsMillion Dollar
Mermaid made a home pool a desirable status symbol. More than
fifty years later, the home or residential swimming pool is
ubiquitous and even small nations enjoy a thriving swimming pool
industry (e.g. New Zealand pop. 4,116,900 [Source NZ Census 7
March 2006] - holds the record in pools per capita with 65,000
home swimming pools and 125,000 spa pools). A two-storey,
white concrete swimming pool building composed of horizontal
cubic volumes built in 1959 at the Royal Roads Military College is
on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada [9]

Source: Wikipedia.com