Talk:History of swimming
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Assessment comments
The following comments were left by the assessors: (edit · refresh) In the middle ages section: "Swimming was initially one of the seven agilities of knights during the Middle Ages, including swimming with armour. " I think that needs a citation. I've been trying to find out about these specifically, and all I can find are modern references (about swimming) that say "swimming with armor was one of the seven agilities of knights" or words to that effect. What I can not find are any verifiable historical references to the knights' seven agilities, or even what the other six were supposed to be! I do not doubt that many knights could indeed swim, and it has been documented that swimming in armor is possible. On the other hand, as far as I can tell, somebody made up the quasi-mystical references to "knights' seven agilities" recently. I'd love to be wrong. But I need to be shown. |
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[edit] Inconsistent?
Towards the end of this article there are 3 or more paragraphs on underwater swimming. If in 1956 six swimmers were disqualified for swimming underwater and then and a new rule was limiting the distance that can be swum under. (can you disqualify before the rule is made?) then how could it a “Another modification was developed for breaststroke. In breaststroke, breaking the water surface increases the friction, reducing the speed of the swimmer. Therefore, swimming underwater increases the speed. This led to a controversy at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, and six swimmers were disqualified, as they repeatedly swam long distances underwater. However, one Japanese swimmer, Masaru Furukawa, circumvented the rule by not surfacing at all after the start, but swimming as much of the lane under water as possible before breaking the surface. He swam all but 5m under water for the first three 50m laps, and also swam half under water for the last lap, winning the gold medal. The adoption of this technique led to many swimmers suffering from oxygen starvation or even some swimmers passing out during the race due to a lack of air, and a new rule was introduced by the FINA, limiting the distance that can be swum under water after the start and every turn, and requiring the head to break the surface every cycle.”
“Breaking the water surface reduces the speed in swimming; this is true not only for breaststroke, but also for backstroke. The swimmers Daichi Suzuki (Japan) and David Berkoff (America) used this for the 100m backstroke at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Berkoff swam 33m of the first lane completely underwater using only a dolphin kick, surfacing just before the turn, far ahead of his competition. A sports commentator called this a Berkoff Blastoff. Suzuki, having practiced the underwater technique for 10 years, surfaced only a little bit earlier, winning the race in 0:55.05. The rules were quickly changed in the same year by the FINA to ensure the health and safety of the swimmers, limiting the underwater phase after the start to ten meters, which was expanded to 15m in 1991. In Seoul, Kristin Otto from East Germany won six gold”
“After underwater swimming for breaststroke and backstroke, the underwater swimming technique is now also used for butterfly, for example by Denis Pankratov (Russia) or Angela Kennedy (Australia), swimming large distances underwater with a dolphin kick. FINA is again considering a rule change for safety reasons. It is currently unclear if it is possible to swim faster underwater than swimming freestyle or front crawl at the surface.”
--Yskyflyer 04:39, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for the notice. I have expanded the article to make things more clear. The first paragraph refers to breastsroke only, where first it was changed to require swimming at the surface except for the period after start and finish, and then modified to limit the distances underwater after start and finish. The second paragraph refers to backstroke, and the third to butterfly, in both cases limiting the distances underwater after start and finish. Let me know if this is still confusing -- Chris 73 | Talk 08:40, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Sorry for my whole first comment. I should have said I don’t understand instead of “Inconsistent?” The Before and after change are both Perfect after you explained it to me. Thanks. I don’t know why I didn’t get it the first time. Well it’s crystal clear now. Thanks. I with think over what I type more carefully in the future before it submit. Yskyflyer--E-Bod 21:37, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
Swimming has been around for a long time and it seems like a strange sport. Think about it, some people hate taking baths but they'll soak themselves in a giant tub of water for hours at a time. Now tell me what is the difference between taking a bath and that, besides the fact that pool water is nasty and bath water is clean. It's just so crazy!! I love swimming but I also like to take showers and baths. If you have kids that refuse to take a bath put bubbles in a swimming pool. You'd be surprised at the results. You'll have a happy and clean kid.
Please reference "Seven knightly agilities." I have no doubt that knights could swim in armor; However, I cannot find out what were these seven agilities or even if there really were seven knightly agilities! (the only pages I can find that speak of "knightly agilities" are references about swimming and that this was one of them.) There are "Seven knightly virtues" documented well enough but these have little to do with physical training, certainly not swimming. Atkindave 19:15, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
