SWIMMING AND WATER SURVIVAL
endurance and strength.
INTRODUCTION
 HISTORY DOES NOT RECORD WHEN
SWIMMING FIRST BEGAN.
 As early as 900 BC, there is evidence that
man had the ability to swim as indication
of pictures found on the wall of a cave
people swimming.
 It is believe that written instructions in
swimming was first given in Egypt as
early as 1600 B.C.
Ancient origin
 Babylonian Bas
- reliefs and Assyrian wall drawing point
to very early swimming skills among
humans.
- they are estimated in be about 6,000
years old
 The Nagoda Bas
- belief also has paintings of swimmers
that date back some 5,000 years.
Ancient sculptures depicted swimmers
 Date back 2,600 years – etruscans and
tarquinia
 Date back 2,500 years – ancient tomb in
Greece
 Past 3,000 years – written testament (The
Bible, The Illiad and The Odyssey).
 2,400 years old – Thucydides
 Egyptains, Phoenicians, Persians, Romans
and greeks.
 “Anyone could not swim lacked a proper
education” – Plato
 Julius Caesar – known for
his swimming prowess.
 Late 1920’s and early 1930’s –
swimming was first included in college
physical education.
 University of the Philippines and
Philippine women’s university – first
schools to have swimming pool and make
swimming as part of the curriculum.
 1934 – women have participated in every
national competition.
 Swimming
- Is a form of exercise that burns a lot of
calories, that increases cardiovascular
fitness levels, improves muscular
- An action consists of repeating a specific
body motion or stroke involving all major
body parts for swimmers to move on the
surface of water.
- Swimming become organized as an
amateur sport In the late 19th century in
several countries.
- English are considered the first modern
society to develop swimming as a sport.
 1937 – when modern competitive
swimming began in London.
 1896 – swimming was part of the first
modern Olympic games.
 Human crawl (human stroke/dog paddle)
– from this stroke evolve other stroke
namely :
 Slide stroke
 Side over-arm
 Trudgen
Classification of swimming strokes:
 Competitive strokes
 Survival resting strokes
Competitive swimming strokes
(American/Australian crawl):
 Freestyle
 Breast stroke
 Back stroke
 Butterfly
Survival/resting strokes:
 Elementary backstroke
 Trudgen stroke
 Side stroke
Four competitive swimming strokes:
1. Freestyle
- the most popular, the fastest, most efficient
stroke and beginners find it the easiest to
learn.
Technique:
 Swimmers float on their belly in the water,
and propel themselves by rotating the arm
in a windmill motion, and kicking the legs
in a fluttering motion.
2. The breast stroke
- the oldest known swimming stroke.
- very popular for leisure swimming because
the head can be kept up and out of the water,
making vision and breathing easy.
Technique:
 In this stroke the arms and legs move
symmetrically. In the glide position, the
body is flat, prone and streamlined, with
legs together and extended. Arms are
extended in front of the head. Keep the
palms down 6 to 8 inches below the
surface of the water. The head is
positioned with the water line near the
hairline. Keep the back straight and the
body near horizontal, with hips and legs
just below the surface.
3. Butterfly
Variation of breaststroke
 Both arms are brought forward together
over the water and then brought backward
simultaneously.
 The leg kick called the dolphin kick, is a
whip-like downward motion of the
unseparated feet.
 It involves a fair amount of strength as
well as precise timing.
Technique:
 The arm strokes
 The leg movement
 How to breath
4. Backstroke
- essentially the crawl strokes in it’s
reverse form with the swimmer’s head
back turned to the water.
- the back stroke is similar to the crawl,
except that the swimmer floats on their
back in the water.
- the arms are moved in a similar
alternating windmill motion, and the legs a
kicked in a similarly
fluttering motion.
Two basic Techniques:
 That the arms are moved with equal force,
for swimmers swimming off towards one
side.
 That the body should be rolled from one
side to the other and the arms should be
extended to their utmost reach, for
swimmers to propel forward.
Survival/resting strokes:
1. Side stroke
- is a swimming stroke, wherein the swimmers
lies on one side.
- It is helpful lifesaving technique and open
used for long-distance swimming.
Technique:
 To start with, the swimmer may lie on the
right side, stretching the right arm out as
far as possible away from the feet, keeping
the fingers on the right hand quite straight
and the hand itself held edgewise, so as to
cut the water like dorsal fin.
2. The Trudgen
- a combination of side and free-style
swimming stroke for survival swimming.
- sometimes known as “recing stroke” or
“east indian stroke”
- named after the English swimmer John
Trudgen (1852-19902)
Technique:
 One swims mostly upon one side, making
an overhand movement, lifting the arms
alternately out of the water.
3. Elementary backstroke
- is a swim stroke that expands minimal
energy with simple arm and leg movements.
- this backstroke doesn’t require any
complicated breathing technique since the
swimmer’s head never
goes underwater.
Technique:
 While floating on your back, raise your
arms and legs, and then squeeze them
down for a relaxing glide.
Other related aquatic activities:
1. Diving
- is the sport jumping or falling into water
from a platform or springboard, sometimes
while performing
acrobatics.
Fundamentals of diving:
 Kneeling dive
 Compact dive
 Stride dive
 Standing dive
Progression from diving board:
 Approach – is the diver’s walk down the
board where they press the board on the
last step.
 Hurdle – occurs after the last step. It is
when the diver leaps from one leg onto
two legs landing on the end of the board.
 The Press – is an exaggerated step which,
along with the walk, create an oscillation
and rhythm in the board.
 The lift – is the force of the board pushing
a diver unto the air.
Position of dive:
Floating strokes:
 Pike – this position is when the body is
bent only at the hips, with legs straight and
arms and head by their ankles. This
position has a smaller radius than the
straight position, making somersaulting
easier.
 Tuck – the body is bent at the hips and the
knees creating the smallest radius possible.
This position has the largest possible
angular acceleration, the greatest number
of somersault is possible
 Straight – this position is when the diver’s
body is as fully extended and rigid as
possible. Because it has the greatest
possible radius, the fewest somersault are
possible.
 Free – this position is a combination the
three above positons, used only in twisting
dives where multiple positions are required
at different parts of the dive. While
somersaulting, the dive may be tuck or
pike; while twisting, the body must be
straight.
2. Fishing
- is an act of catching fish either from
freshwater or salt water, - typically with the
used of rod, line and hook for consumption.
3. Boating
- is the leisurely activities of travelling by
boat, or recreational use of a boat wheter
power boats, sail boats, or yachts, focused on
the travel itself, as well as sports activities,
such as fishing or water skiing.
4. Water skiing
- is a sport where an individual Is pulled
behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a
body of water, skimming the surface.
5. Scuba diving
- an acronym of “self-contained underwater
breathing apparatus”.
- is a form of underwater diving in which a
diver uses scuba set to breathe underwater for
recreation, commercial or industrial reason.
6. Snorkeling
- is the practice of swimming on or through a
body of water while equipped with a diving
mask, a shaped tube called a snorkel, and
usually swim fins.
1. Survival floating (also known as dead
man float)
 Lying on the prone position with minimal
leg movement, and staying afloat with the
natural buoyancy.
2. Back floating
 Similar to the survival floating, except on
the back.
3. Treading water
 The swimmer is in the water head and feet
down.
 Water treading is an aspect of swimming
that involves a swimmer staying in a
vertical position in the water whilst
keeping his/her head above the surface of
the water.
4. Sculling
 A back-and-forth movement of the
hands and forearms that provides
almost constant propulsion.
5. Turtle float
 The knees are raised to the chest and
encircled by the arms. In waist-deep
water, take deep breath. Reach down
and wrap arms around knees. Holds the
knees.
6. Jellyfish float
 Hold on the ankles with the hands. In
waist deep water, take a deep breath,
reach down and grab ankles. Hold
ankles.