Competitive swimming began in Europe around 1800 CE. At that time freestyle was the main stroke to swim. Swimming became part of the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. The front crawl (or freestyle) was introduced to the Western world by Richard Cavill. FINA (Federation Internationale de Natation) is the governing body of the swimming world was formed in 1908. In the 1930s the butterfly stroke was invented and was thought of as a variant to breaststroke until it became its own stroke in 1952.
The goal of competitive swimming is to always improve upon one’s time or win the race of any given event. Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games where males and females can compete in a number of 16 different events. These Olympic events are held in a 50-meter pool.
In open water swimming events (usually in a lake or sea) there are 5, 10, or 25km races that both men and women can compete in. Only the 10km is included in the Olympic schedule, however.
In the last 20 years dolphin kick has become an important use in winning races. This is used to maximize speed in starts and turns. Most people will remember this technique from Ryan Lochte and, of course, Michael Phelps. But these were not the first 2 swimmers to use this to their advantage. David Berkoff in the 1988 Olympics swam most of the 100 m backstroke underwater doing his dolphin kick. This made him able to break the world record on that event during the preliminaries. Another swimmer, Denis Pankratov in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, completed almost half the 100 m butterfly underwater, helping him to win the gold medal.
Dolphin kicking is allowed in backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle, but not as often in breaststroke. In 2005 a new rule was formed stating that an optional downward dolphin kick may be used off of the start, and each turn, and must occur during the breaststroke pullout. Any other dolphin kick that is used or used at the wrong time will result in automatic disqualification.
Also recently. New rules have been formed to limit dolphin kicking in the other three strokes. If dolphin kicking goes past 15 meters, it will result in an automatic disqualification.
Listed here are the officials in swimming and their jobs:
Clerk of course: The clerk of course assembles swimmers prior to each event, and is responsible for organizing ("seeding") swimmers into heats based on their times. Heats are generally seeded from slowest to fastest.
Referee: The referee has full control and authority over all officials. The referee will enforce all rules and decisions of FINA and shall decide all questions relating to the actual conduct of the meet, and event or the competition, the final settlement of which is not otherwise covered by the rules. The referee takes overall responsibility for running the race and makes the final decisions as to who wins the competition. Referees call swimmers to the blocks with short blasts of his or her whistle. This is the signal for the swimmers to stand next to their blocks. Then the referee will blow a long whistle that will tell the swimmers to step on a block. The referee will then hand over control to the starter.
Starter: The starter has full control of the swimmers from the time the referee turns the swimmers over to him or /her until the race begins. A starter sends the swimmers off the blocks and may call a false start if a swimmer leaves the block before the starter sends them. (This also means if the swimmer falls off of the block on accident, they are disqualified).
Timekeepers: There are three timekeepers for each lane (But sometimes only two). Each timekeeper takes the time of the swimmers in the lane assigned to him/her. A chief timekeeper assigns the seating positions for all timekeepers and the lanes for which they are responsible. The chief timekeeper collects from the timekeepers in each lane a card showing the times recorded and, if necessary, inspect their watches. One timer will be timing with a stopwatch, another recording it down, and one making sure to click the backup button.
Inspectors of turns: One inspector of turns is assigned to each lane at each end of the pool. Each inspector of turns ensures that swimmers comply with the relevant rules for turning as well as the relevant rules for start and finish of the race. Inspectors of turns shall report any violation on disqualification reports detailing the event, lane number, and the infringement delivered to the chief inspector of turns who will immediately convey the report to the referee.
Judges of Stroke: Judges of stroke are located on each side of the pool. They ensure that the rules related to the style of swimming designated for the event are being observed, and observe the turns and the finishes to assist the inspectors of turns.
Finish judges: Finish judges determine the order of finish and make sure the swimmers finish in accordance with the rules.
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