Greek mythology relates the story of Hero and Leander. Hero was a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont (today's Dardanelles), and Leander was a young man from Abydos who lived on the opposite side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to visit her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way.
Jonathan, one of the Maccabean heroes, famously swam the River Jordan to evade his pursuers. Josephus, first-century Jewish military leader and historian, tells in his autobiography how after he and a group of priests had been shipwrecked on their way to Rome, they swam all through the night until another ship picked them up.
Horatius, holding back the Etruscans from a wooden bridge until it could be demolished, is said to have dived into the Tiber to swim across it to safety in spite of his wounds and his armor. Even his foes had to admire his prowess.
Julius Caesar was a superb swimmer with a powerful stroke. When shipwrecked off Alexandria, he jumped overboard to swim ashore carrying his sword between his teeth and his commentaries with his left hand above the water while beating it with his right.
When Saint Paul's ship was wrecked off the Maltese coast, the centurion commanded that to save their lives, all the able to swim should do so. The fact that Paul reached the shore shows he was an efficient swimmer.
A good swimmer, Charlemagne had a great marble pool at his Aachen palace and even as an old man beat young men in races.
Benjamin Franklin was a good and enthusiastic swimmer. As a child he once read a book about swimming and taught himself swimming strokes using wooden puddles for his hands and feet to help him swim faster. He used a kite in the breeze to pull him along. During his time in England he'd thought of opening up a swimming school.
Franklin was proud of having swum the River Thames from Chelsea to Blackfriars. He was an early pioneer of the breaststroke and he used to regularly swim across the River Thames using it.
Franklin was such an incredible swimmer that he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968.
Lord Byron was a keen swimmer, and was prouder of his swimming than his poetry. He swam across the Hellespont, the stretch of water linking the Aegean with the Black Sea. He did it in imitation of Leander.
After visiting one of his ladies at a Palazzo in Venice, Byron departed and threw himself fully clothed into the Grand Canal and swam away. The next night he did the same thing but to avoid being wounded by the oars of a gondolier he swam with his right hand and held a torch in his left hand to give himself light.
Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875. Using the breaststroke technique, he swam the channel 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. The feat caused a world-wide sensation and was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911.
Before swimming pools were introduced in 1908, Olympic swimmers were dropped from a boat into the sea: first to shore won.
Australian-born swimmer Annette Kellerman caused public outrage in 1909 by appearing in public on a California beach wearing the first one-piece bathing suit.
Johnny Weissmuller became swimming’s first superstar as a result of winning five Olympic gold medals. In 1922 he swum the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'. Later he found Hollywood fame for playing Tarzan in films during the 1930s and 1940s.
On September 5, 1942, United States Navy Petty Officer First Class Charles Jackson French, of Omaha Nebraska, swam through the night for around seven hours pulling a raft of 15 wounded sailors with a rope around his stomach through shark-infested waters after the USS Gregory was hit.
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| Leander swimming across the Hellespont. Detail from a painting by Bernard Picart. |
Jonathan, one of the Maccabean heroes, famously swam the River Jordan to evade his pursuers. Josephus, first-century Jewish military leader and historian, tells in his autobiography how after he and a group of priests had been shipwrecked on their way to Rome, they swam all through the night until another ship picked them up.
Horatius, holding back the Etruscans from a wooden bridge until it could be demolished, is said to have dived into the Tiber to swim across it to safety in spite of his wounds and his armor. Even his foes had to admire his prowess.
Julius Caesar was a superb swimmer with a powerful stroke. When shipwrecked off Alexandria, he jumped overboard to swim ashore carrying his sword between his teeth and his commentaries with his left hand above the water while beating it with his right.
When Saint Paul's ship was wrecked off the Maltese coast, the centurion commanded that to save their lives, all the able to swim should do so. The fact that Paul reached the shore shows he was an efficient swimmer.
A good swimmer, Charlemagne had a great marble pool at his Aachen palace and even as an old man beat young men in races.
Benjamin Franklin was a good and enthusiastic swimmer. As a child he once read a book about swimming and taught himself swimming strokes using wooden puddles for his hands and feet to help him swim faster. He used a kite in the breeze to pull him along. During his time in England he'd thought of opening up a swimming school.
Franklin was proud of having swum the River Thames from Chelsea to Blackfriars. He was an early pioneer of the breaststroke and he used to regularly swim across the River Thames using it.
Franklin was such an incredible swimmer that he was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1968.
Lord Byron was a keen swimmer, and was prouder of his swimming than his poetry. He swam across the Hellespont, the stretch of water linking the Aegean with the Black Sea. He did it in imitation of Leander.
After visiting one of his ladies at a Palazzo in Venice, Byron departed and threw himself fully clothed into the Grand Canal and swam away. The next night he did the same thing but to avoid being wounded by the oars of a gondolier he swam with his right hand and held a torch in his left hand to give himself light.
Captain Matthew Webb was the first man to swim the English Channel in 1875. Using the breaststroke technique, he swam the channel 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes. The feat caused a world-wide sensation and was not replicated or surpassed for the next 36 years, until T.W. Burgess made the crossing in 1911.
Before swimming pools were introduced in 1908, Olympic swimmers were dropped from a boat into the sea: first to shore won.
Australian-born swimmer Annette Kellerman caused public outrage in 1909 by appearing in public on a California beach wearing the first one-piece bathing suit.
Johnny Weissmuller became swimming’s first superstar as a result of winning five Olympic gold medals. In 1922 he swum the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking a world swimming record and the 'minute barrier'. Later he found Hollywood fame for playing Tarzan in films during the 1930s and 1940s.
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| The 1924 Olympic 400 metres freestyle final won by Johnny Weissmuller |
On September 5, 1942, United States Navy Petty Officer First Class Charles Jackson French, of Omaha Nebraska, swam through the night for around seven hours pulling a raft of 15 wounded sailors with a rope around his stomach through shark-infested waters after the USS Gregory was hit.
When he was in his 70s, Mao Tse-Tung allegedly swam 16 km/10 miles in under an hour from the Wuhan bridge over the Yangtze to prove his fitness and to prove himself invincible.
Nine-time Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz, jokingly told a Russian journalist in 1972 that his mustache increased his speed in the water, deflecting water away from his mouth. By 1973 the Russian men’s swimming team had, according to Spitz, all grown mustaches.
Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from the Bahamas to Florida in 1979. It took her 27.5 hours to swim the 102 miles (164 kms) from North Bimini, Bahamas, to Juno Beach, Florida,
Lynne Cox is an American long-distance open-water swimmer who is best known for being the first person to swim between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the Bering Strait. Cox's swim was a major undertaking. The water temperature in the Bering Strait was only 43 to 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6 to 7 degrees Celsius), and the currents were strong. Cox wore a specially designed swimsuit and a wetsuit, but she still suffered from hypothermia and frostbite.
Despite the challenges, Cox completed her swim in 2 hours and 5 minutes. She was greeted on the Soviet side of the strait by a group of people, including a Soviet military official and a photographer. The swim was a major news story, and it was seen as a symbol of hope and peace between the two countries.
On September 2, 2013, 64-year-old Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a shark cage for protection. She completed the 110-mile (177 kms) swim from Havana to Key West, in approximately 53 hours.
Swimmer Eric Moussambani, who had never raced more than 50 meters, dog paddled an entire 100-meter freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on July 28, 2001. He won the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, and 4x200m freestyle relay. Thorpe also set three world records during the meet. His performance was so dominant that he was nicknamed "Thorpedo" by the media.
American swimmer Anthony Ervin won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 Olympics. Ervin stopped swimming competitively at the age of 22 in 2003 and begun abusing drugs, at one moment being hardly able to raise from a sofa for days on end. In 2011 he got back into swimming, and at the age of 35, became the oldest individual Olympic gold medal winner in swimming at the 2016 Olympics.
Between 2000 and 2016, Michael Phelps medaled in 44% of every men's swimming event at the Olympics. There were 64 races during that period, Phelps competed in 29 and medaled in 28.
Porcupines are excellent swimmers because their hollow quills keep them afloat.
Wild boar are good swimmers. One reportedly swam across a 2,300ft wide river.
The Newfoundland breed of dog are great swimmers because of their waterproof fur, their webbed feet and their strong muscles. They were originally used by fishermen to haul nets and sailors to carry goods and would jump overboard to save people from drowning.
When there is a forest flood, sloths prove themselves to be surprisingly good swimmers.
Swimmer Eric Moussambani, who had never raced more than 50 meters, dog paddled an entire 100-meter freestyle at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan on July 28, 2001. He won the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 4x100m freestyle relay, and 4x200m freestyle relay. Thorpe also set three world records during the meet. His performance was so dominant that he was nicknamed "Thorpedo" by the media.
Ian Thorpe is considered one of the greatest swimmers of all time. He won five Olympic gold medals and 13 world championship gold medals. He retired from swimming in 2012, but he remains a popular figure in Australia.
American swimmer Anthony Ervin won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle at the 2000 Olympics. Ervin stopped swimming competitively at the age of 22 in 2003 and begun abusing drugs, at one moment being hardly able to raise from a sofa for days on end. In 2011 he got back into swimming, and at the age of 35, became the oldest individual Olympic gold medal winner in swimming at the 2016 Olympics.
Between 2000 and 2016, Michael Phelps medaled in 44% of every men's swimming event at the Olympics. There were 64 races during that period, Phelps competed in 29 and medaled in 28.
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| Michael Phelps By Karen Blaha from Columbia, MO |
Porcupines are excellent swimmers because their hollow quills keep them afloat.
Wild boar are good swimmers. One reportedly swam across a 2,300ft wide river.
The Newfoundland breed of dog are great swimmers because of their waterproof fur, their webbed feet and their strong muscles. They were originally used by fishermen to haul nets and sailors to carry goods and would jump overboard to save people from drowning.
When there is a forest flood, sloths prove themselves to be surprisingly good swimmers.
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