Category: Swimming

ABSTRACT

Psychological factors play an integral role in sports and can affect performance at all levels of expertise. Arousal has been shown to increase in competitive settings and present an optimal level for enhanced performance. The aim of this study is to examine how arousal varies in competitive vs individual conditions and the extent of its impact on recreational swimming sprint performance. 12 volunteers (18-21 years) from Qatar University’s swimming team reported their arousal scores prior to an official 50-m freestyle competition (qualifications for the eighth universities Gulf States tournament) and in an individual trial. Performances were collected in seconds. Results showed no significant differences in performance between individual and competitive conditions. Moreover, there was a negative significant correlation between arousal and performance only in the individual condition. Interestingly, when all data were combined, a quadratic (inverted U-shape) relationship was found between arousal and performance indicating an optimal arousal level for recreational swimming as in other elite contexts.

Introduction

Today, swimming is one of the most loved activities throughout the world; people of all ages indulge in the swimming, as it is ideally one of the best ways to exercise all the muscles of the body without any additional pressure. Regular swimming builds muscle strength, endurance and enhances the cardio-vascular fitness of the person. It is widely popular in three aspects of perspectives – as a general activity, sport event and occupational reason port performance is wide field that has been studied from different perspectives. For instance, performance in sports can be affected by many variables such as psychological or physiological ones. A goal of sport science researchers is to access the level of knowledge for the many variables that may affect the athlete’s performance.

Hence the psychological states may affect the individual performance and affect the overall result as well as the emotions before, during and after important competitions. In the context of psychology, arousal is the state of being physiologically alert, awake, and attentive. Arousal is primarily controlled by the reticular activating system (RAS) in the brain. The RAS is located in the brain stem and projects to many other brain areas, including the cortex (Ellis, 1987). We can think of the RAS as a pacemaker for arousal. When the system slows down, one might feel lethargic, sleepy, or have difficulty concentrating on things. When the system speeds up, one might feel highly active, be alert, and be ready to respond to different things in the environment. The RAS and arousal levels are influenced by a number of different things, such as emotions, the foods you eat, and the neurotransmitters in the brain. However, arousal is difficult to analyze, and it has been commonly measured by self-report techniques. In contrast, some authors claim for a more accurate measurement using also physiological responses.

Many studies have used a Likert-type scale from 1 to 5 to measure arousal with manikins. Specifically, arousal aspect has been not directly examined in the previous years to emphasis, arousal can solve the personal issues by using judgment, processing and memory. On one hand there been numbered questions about what the arousal term is referred to. On the other no study has a convincing evidence that arousal is a single, unitary entity (Neiss, 1988). Consistent with Russell and Barrett (1999), we treat arousal as a psychological concept associated with emotional states that is variously indexed by activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, or the endocrine system. For example, the modulation of memory by arousal can occur with the activation of the peripheral or the central nervous systems or the various endocrine systems (see McGaugh, 2004). Moreover, the sport arousal-performance relationship was primarily grounded on the inverted-U theory (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908). This theory suggested a curvilinear relationship between physiological excitement and performance (Gould & Krane, 1992), where the moderate levels of arousal will give better performance in sports while arousal levels that can be too high or too low could be detrimental/negative to performance level (Gould & Krane, 1992; Spielberger, 1989). In addition, when Zajonc (1965) stated his theory about social facilitation, he argued that the presence of others could bring about facilitated or impaired performance depending on the type of task being performed.

The audience may be divided into two categories, the fans category and the dominant category of the team playing, so the presence of the spectators can make a difference in the outcome of the game. There are two studies that stated the effects of audience on the athlete’s performance. The social facilitation theory can describe the relationship between the arousal of presence of audience and its impact on performance positively or negatively. However, Woodman (2003) stated that relative impact of cognitive anxiety and self-confidence upon sport performance tested the proposed relationships between cognitive anxiety and performance and between self-confidence and performance. Such as, Burton (1988) initiated a negative linear trend between mental anxiety and swimming performance and a positive linear trend between self-confidence and performance. In both of examples studied by Burton, mental anxiety accounted for up to 46% of swimming performance modification and self-confidence accounted for up to 21%. Furthermore, another study stated that anxiety can affect the athlete performance if it has not been used correctly, therefore it is known as an inherit aspect of competitive athletics which is the need for the athlete to meet the demands of the competition and to perform well under pressure, depending on how the athlete perceives the demands in other aspects of competition. (Martens & Burton, 1990). Moreover, on one hand, there was a study stated that playing among team players had a small amount of anxiety. On the other hand, players who play individual sports have a higher level of anxiety than team sport (Beedie, Terry, & Lane, 2000).

Also, another study (Khan, 2017) about the effects of anxiety on athletic Performance found that anxiety negatively affects the overall sports performance of a player. The study also revealed that awareness about anxiety and its negative effects and practices such as medication, meditation, psychotherapy is most important to overcome and face anxiety in sports participation. therefore, another study (Mabweazara, et al. ,2017) found that predicted swimming performance used state anxiety. Study tested 61 males’ swimmers, in high school. Participants are swim 50 m freestyle. The result showed that both cognitive and somatic anxieties independently predicting. And somatic anxiety has the greater impact than cognitive anxiety on sprint performance. The coach and swimmers used strategies that help to avoid somatic anxiety. Also, Sheppard and Sorrentino’s (1978) study tested 44 males’ swimmers and 33 female swimmers, in 3 different universities. In the beginning, they did an anxiety scale test and Interpersonal Opinion Questionnaire for the swimmers, after which they tested the swimmers’ performance individually and then in a relay (group). The results showed that most participants got better performances in the team relay test, except for those who had high anxiety scores that showed negative correlation with performance. However, our study will be specifically done on recreational swimmers and will focus on examining the effects of arousal levels on swimming performances. To vary the arousal level, participants will perform in two different contexts, swimming the 50m freestyle against time alone and against real opponents. The aims of this study to examine the effect of arousal on 50-meter free style in swimming performance in both conditions, individual and competition and to see difference in arousal level between individual and competition. Finally, we hypothesize that Too high arousal and too low arousal will impact negatively in performance, while moderate arousal is better for performance.

Method

Participants

12 students volunteered from Qatar University (QU). Inclusion criteria were: (1) age between 18 to 21 years old, (2) be healthy and have no evidence of past or present disease or impairment, (3) be part of the QU swimming team for at least 3 months, (4) train at least 3 times a week. All participants signed an informed consent.

Protocol

We first did an anthropometric measure for our participants to collect their body height, and weight. After that, each swimmer repeated the 50m freestyle on 2 different occasions (two separate days). The first one was swimming individually against time and the second one was a competition against other in order to select swimmers who will qualify for the Gulf Championship. The competition was as the following: the first 6 participants entered the first round, after that the other 6 participants performed the second round. Both swimming trials were proceeded by filling out of the arousal scale.

Materials

The swimming trials were done in the Olympic swimming pool (i.e., 50 m) of Qatar University. All swimmers used their own goggles, swimming caps, and swimming nose clips if needed. A timer and a whistle were used to time the 50 m swimming trials. Six experimenters were present to time each of the participants on each competition trial. We used the Likert-type scale to measure arousal from 1 (I feel calm, relaxed, or sleepy) to 5 (I feel excited, nervous, or wide-awake).

Data and statistical analyses

Normality of data sets was verified using the Shapiro-Wilks test. Mean and standard deviation were collected for participants’ physical characteristics, using descriptive analysis. Independent t-test were used to compare the performance (in seconds) and arousal scores between the individual and competition conditions. Moreover, Pearson correlation tests were used to determine if arousal and performance were significantly related for each condition. The nature of the relationship between arousal scores (combined from both conditions) and performance was examined using the best fitting curve regressions, where both linear and quadratic equations were tested. The significance of the ANOVA results and the strength of the relationship (r2) were taken into consideration in the choice of the best fit curve for the relationship. All analyses were done using SPSS software version 21 (IBM SPSS Statistics) with a level of significance set at p < 0.05.

Results

t-tests revealed no significant difference in the performance between the individual (34.93 sec ± 4.74) and competition (33.97 sec ± 3.78) conditions (p > 0.05). However, the level of arousal was significantly higher for the competition (4.46 ± 0.58) compared to the individual condition (2.21 ± 0.69) [t (22) = -8.64, p < 0.001] (Figure 3). Moreover, the Pearson correlation test showed that a negative significant correlation exists between arousal and performance (in seconds) only in the individual condition (r = -0.75, p < 0.05), where performance in seconds improved with lower arousal levels. However, results indicated no significant correlation between arousal and performance during the competition condition (p > 0.05). When we combined all data from both conditions, we found that the relationship between arousal and performance was not linear (p = 0.08).

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of arousal on performance under two different conditions, namely individual (against time) and competition (against other). We expected that Too high arousal and too low arousal will impact negatively in performance, while moderate arousal is better for performance. The hypotheses were partially verified, t test showed there was not significant arousal and performance during the competition condition. However, arousal levels were higher in the competition compared to individual conditions. Performance did not vary significantly between both conditions although it was a bit better for competition.

There is a negative significant correlation exists between arousal and performance only in the individual condition, that’s logical because if the swimmers are sleepy because the lack of stimulation and challenge or anxious because of the unrealistic and difficulty of the task, the performance will not improve. Swimming performance is measured by seconds, so a decrease in the timing means that the performance is improving as mentioned earlier in. the quadratic relationship between arousal scores and performance showed that the best condition for the swimmer to reach an optimal level of arousal is 3.5. In fact, there are several studies that revealed a positive relationship between the arousal and performance levels, one of them stated that performance is associated with optimal arousal (Craig & Wrisberg, 1994). The study supported the inverted-U theory that showed a curvilinear relationship between arousal and performance (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908). A high level of arousal (e.g., > 4.5) would be defined as anxiety. According to Gould and Krane (1992). Anxiety affects performance negatively, as supported from what found in the results.

Therefore, coaches help the swimmers to avoid physical -somatic- anxiety because it has negative impacts on the swimmer performance especially in competition. High arousal levels could have negative effects and that is evidence in three of our swimmers as their arousal levels were higher than average and can be described as level 5 arousal which may lead them to be worried and have less performance compared to the other swimmers. Arousal is very important condition that coach must create it among the swimmers in training sessions because when the athletes reach the optimal level of arousal in training sessions, that will enhance performance because if the swimmers was too bored or too anxious during training session, swimmers will not develop their own technique of controlling the arousal and reaching the optimal level during the real competition. Moreover, there is other factor that can affect performance during competition, as it mentioned in introduction earlier which is presence of others which named in psychology, human facilitation theory that developed by Zajonic, (1965). In competition there were an audience watching the swimmers’ performance when they were competing against each other. The audience were cheering and encouraging the swimmers to swim faster and invest more power. This attitude by the spectators will evoke a state of excitement (arousal) among the swimmers, that will result in performing dominant response which will lead to enhance the performance if the swimmers respond to that situation positively. The factor of presence of other may explain the reason behind the increasing of arousal level for swimmers in competition condition compared to individual condition which result a very slightly improvement in performance during competition.

Our result could be further supported by future studies on a larger sample size that would render the equation more accurate for recreational freestyle swimming sprinting events. Moreover, it is important to state some limitations of the study such as the weather condition that was rather cold during the competition condition which might have affected negatively performance. Another aspect to consider is the potential variation in motivation levels of the twelve participants in both conditions.

Conclusion

Arousal does not seem to affect swimming performance in competitive setting as opposed to individual one in recreational university swimmers. In sum, there seem to be an optimal level of arousal that contributes to recreational swimming performance.

References

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Introduction

Creatine is thought to improve strength, increase lean muscle mass, and help muscles recover. Creatine supplements may help athletes achieve bursts of speed and energy, especially during short bouts of high-intensity activities such as sprinting. Swimmers need some factors such as strength and power of muscles to help improve their performances. Studies have found that creatine can be beneficial in improving performance during repeated bouts of high-intensity anaerobic activity. Creatine supplementation may benefit swimmers by improving the quality of training, increasing PCr storage, and promoting lean tissue accretion (Silva, Machado-Reis, Guidetti, Bessone-Alves, Mota, et. al., 2007).

Review of literature

The first article, effect of creatine supplementation on training for competition in elite swimmers (2005), looked at how creatine doesn’t have an effect during single sprint bouts, but does have an effect when repeated sprints are performed (Peyrebrune, Stokes, Hall, & Nevill (2005)/. The benefit of this ergogenic effect in swimming is to enhance training during practice so when single sprints are performed during competition, a swimmers performance will improve. Twenty-three swimmers (14 men, 9 women) from a university club swim team began the training study. All subjects were involved in eight to ten swimming sessions per week, for 28 weeks. All subjects performed an initial sprint and endurance test, followed by a period of 20 grams of creatine supplementation and then repeated the sprint test. After these tests were performed, each subject was assigned to either an experimental group or control group based on their times, events and initial standard from the test sets. Subjects performed five testing sessions over the course of the swimming season. Tests were performed before and after a five-day supplementation period. The supplementation period involved two high-dosage five-day loading phases and a low-dose phase between weeks 22 and 27. While tests were performed, subjects warmed up for 25 minutes and were asked to exert maximal effort on each repetition.

All subjects were provided with 20 premeasured supplement packets with five-grams of creatine in each, plus five grams of glucose and were instructed to mix with hot water, then immediately consume at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 18:00 hour for each of the five-day loading dose period (Peyrebrune, et. al., 2005). Subjects in the creatine group took three grams of creatine and subjects in the placebo control group were given ten grams of glucose and were instructed to consume them at 12:00 hour every day for a period between 22 and 27 weeks. Body mass after the 28-week creatine supplementation had shown an increase when compared to the placebo group. No differences were seen in training volume between the groups during the 22-27-week period. During the repeated sprint test, mean times were faster in the creatine supplement group. The main findings of the study were that, during a 22-27 week creatine dosage period, did not show significantly improve competitive swimming performance or performance during a repeated sprint test in elite competitors. All subject improved their repeated sprint performance after an initial loading dose, but did not show continuous improvement throughout the 28-week study period. The main focus of the results is to confirm that creatine supplementation of 20 grams per day for five days, does show improvement in repeated spring swimming but that an additional supplementation protocol during the 22-27-week period of training, does not enhance the competitive performance of elite swimmers.

The second article being evaluated by Silva, et. al., (2007), looked at how creatine can have an influence on performance related hydrodynamic variables during sprint swimming. An increase in total muscle creatine through creatine supplementation may provide an ergogenic effect by enhancing the rate of ATP synthesis during sprints (Silva, et. al., 2007). Other studies have looked at how creatine has an effect on single-sprints or repeated sprints, but no studies have evaluated how creatine effects performance and body composition, along with hydrodynamic variables that are related to swimming. Hydrodynamic variables include the drag, the power input, and mechanical power output, when propelling through the water. These variables could potentially lead to an improvement in swimming efficiency and a better propelling efficiency. The aim of this study was to look at the effect of a 21 day creatine dose on swimming performance, performance related to hydrodynamic variables and on body composition in national junior competitive female swimmers. Sixteen national level competitive female swimmers participated in a three week (21 day) experimental study. The subjects were randomly assigned to either a creatine supplementation group or placebo supplementation group. The experiment started just before the last and most important competitive training period of the swimming season. The creatine group consumed 20 grams per day, that was dissolved in 150 mL of water. The placebo group consumed the same water, just without the creatine. The subjects went through a pre-and post-supplementation period. The subjects performed all the swimming tests on the same stroke (freestyle). A Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis was used to measure body weight and mass. All subjects underwent a performance assessment that consisted of a 25-meter swim at maximum effort. After the performance assessment, subjects performed two maximum 25-meter bouts to measure hydrodynamic variables. The first 25-meter swim was a free swim, while during the second 25-meter swim, the subject towed a hydrodynamic body (small cylinder filled with water attached to a floating board) behind them. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the two groups during pretreatment testing. However, there were significant differences between the two groups in the active drag and power output. The creatine did not show any improvement over a three-week period in a 25-meter swim. The junior female swimmers that were analyzed did not improve their 25-meter swimming performance after creatine supplementation. Although there were no significant changes in body weight, body mass or performance, hydrodynamic variables did show differences between the pre-and-post assessment. In summary, the results have shown that creatine supplementation during a three-week period may be beneficial for an improvement in gross and propelling efficiency of junior female swimmers, but showed no improvement in body weight, body mass, or swimming performance during a 25-meter swim (Silva, et. al., 63, 2007).

Selsby, Beckett, Kern & Devor (2003), all looked at the effects on swim performance following creatine supplementation in division III athletes. The aim of this study was to closely define the role of creatine in swimming. Eight male and seven female Division III swimmers, participated in this study. Subjects were assigned in a double-blind manner to either a creatine supplementation group or a placebo group. 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight of creatine was provided for each subject and were instructed to consume four times a day. Following the five-day loading phase, the creatine group ingested 2.25 grams of creatine daily during a nine-day maintenance phase. Performance tests were completed in a 25-yard pool. Subjects were divided into different heats based on ability and speed seen during warm-up. Following the warm-up period, all subjects participated in a 50 and 100-yard freestyle sprint. In the 50-yard sprint, the creatine supplementation group swam at a faster time when compared to the placebo group. The creatine group swam about .26 seconds faster than the placebo group. The same findings were present in the 100-yard sprint. The consumption of 0.3 grams per kilogram of body weight of creatine loading dose, followed by a nine-day maintenance dose has shown to increase swimming performance in the 100 and 50-yard sprint.

The purpose of this next study written by Roshan, Babaei, Hosseinzadeh, & Arendt-Nielson (2013), was to examine the effects of creatine supplementation on muscle fatigue and physiological indicators after intermittent swimming bouts. Sixteen active non-elite swimmers participated in the study. Resistance training and jogging were restricted during the time of the experiment. Subjects performed a 100-meter swim in the preliminary trial. Each swimmer was then divided into a creatine supplementation group or a placebo group, then participated in a main trial that included 6×50 meter swim of high intensity exercise at maximum effort. All trials were performed at the same time of the day after a controlled warm-up that consisted of a 600-meter swim, 200 kicks, 200 pulls, and 4×10 meter sprints. The creatine group consumed 5.0 grams of creatine four times (breakfast, lunch dinner, bed time) a day for six days. Subjects mixed the creatine powder in 250mL of warm water and consumed immediately. There were no differences seen between the creatine and placebo group when body weight, mass and height were compared. Percent of speed decrement was significantly lower after the third sprint when compared to the placebo group. There was an increase in blood lactate, creatine levels, but no significant differences between the two groups. These results can confirm that there are beneficial effects of the creatine supplementation for improving interval spring swimming performance in well-trained but non-elite athletes (Roshan, et. al., 238, 2013).

The last study that is being examined written by Dawson, Vladich, & Blanksby (2002) was aimed towards whether the administration of creatine over a four-week period, in conjunction with regular training, could improve single sprint swimming performance in junior swimmers. The subjects consisted of 10 young men and 10 young women. All subjects followed the same training program with the same coach during the four-week period. A 1×50-meter swim and 1×100-meter maximal effort swim were performed. After the initial tests were performed, participants reported to an exercise physiology laboratory for another assessment. The participants performed a simulated front crawl (freestyle) swim on a Biokinetic Swim Bench for five minute, followed by a static stretching routine. Once the participants were warmed-up and stretched, they returned to the swim bench to perform two, 30-second maximal effort tests with a ten-minute rest period in between the two. Participants were divided into either a creatine supplementation group or a placebo group. The creatine group consumed five grams of creatine powder, that was combined with one gram of glucose powder. The placebo group consumed six grams of glucose powder only. Two supplementation regimens were performed, a loading phase and a maintenance phase. The loading phase consisted of consuming the supplements four times a day at intervals of two to three hours, for five days. The maintenance phase consisted of five grams of the creatine or placebo for a period of 22 days, for a combined total of 27 days. After the 27-day supplementation period, the same swim and laboratory tests were performed.

There were no significant differences seen between the creatine and placebo group when the 50 and 100-meter swims that were done in the pool were looked at. After supplementation, the creatine group showed improvement on the output score on the swim bench test. Although, improvements were seen in the creatine group on the swim bench test, it came to conclusion that there is no evidence to suggest that the creatine supplementation enhanced junior sprint swim performance by the effects of the four-week training block (Dawson, et. al., 489, 2002).

Conclusion

All articles but one looked at both male and female subjects. When looking at both genders, it was shown that sprint performance improved. The one article written by Silva et. al. (2007) only looked at female subjects and the results showed that there was no improvement in the sprint performances. Females response to the creatine supplementation, in terms of performance, may take longer to be effective or may not have any effect at all. Since the other studies looked at males and females, the results may have shown improvement from the male swimmers and from the results being pooled together as one (Dawson et. al., 2002; Peyrebrune, et. al., 2005; Roshan et. al., 2013; Selsby, et. al., 2003; Silva, et. al., 2007). Most of the studies performed their assessments on a 50 and 100-meter/yard swim. Having to perform flip turns during the assessment, may have an influence on the whether or not creatine supplementation can have an influence on sprint swimming performance. Whether or not it was a meter or yard pool, showed no difference in the creatine showing improvement. The article written by Silva, et. al., performed their assessments by swimming 25-meters, instead of a 50 or 100. Just by swimming a 25, no improvement was shown and sprint performance did not increase. These results show that a swim longer than a 25 but shorter than a 100, is the best time for creatine to show improvement in sprint performance. Races that last 30 seconds to one minute may be the best time for creatine to enhance sprint swim performance. All studies took a blood sample before and after the tests were performed, to see how blood lactate had an influence on the swim performance.

In addition to promoting the development of our muscle mass in a much less an aggressive way for our joints than other exercises, swimming is psychologically beneficial and gives us more confidence in ourselves. Swimming is a very complete sport, it allows to work the arms, the back, and the legs … Either the whole body. Moreover, swimming also brings some psychological benefits that you may not know.

The practice of any sport brings not only benefits at the physical level, but also at the mental level. That said, every physical activity has its own benefits. We will see here how swimming can help us psychologically. The psychological benefits of swimming:

1. It eliminates stress:

One of the psychological benefits of swimming is the elimination of stress. Nowadays, we are used to carrying a lot of stress on our shoulders and it is important to know how to get rid of it so that it is not harmful to our health.

This is what swimming allows thanks to the relaxing effect of contact with water and the pleasant temperature of the water. In pools the water is not too cold, its temperature is ideal to practice this sport in optimal conditions. You can practice swimming in the morning, to start the day very actively, or afternoons after work to relax and enjoy a restful sleep.

2. It increases your confidence:

The second psychological benefit of swimming is the fact that it will improve your self-esteem, a fundamental point that will help you at all levels. When you start swimming, you can start with the crawl, only where you have foot. However, little by little, you will gain confidence and swim to places where you do not have a foot.

The same will be true of other ways of swimming that you will learn. This will improve your self-confidence. Indeed, if you have concerns about self-esteem, swimming will be your best ally. Self-esteem is what allows us to face all the different fears we may have. When we have low self-esteem, we may be able to let our fears fill us and constantly seek refuge in our comfort zone.

3. It reduces shyness:

When you start swimming, you do it most of the time. During swimming lessons, many people will find themselves in the same situation like you, that is to say in search of a way to overcome their fears and embarrassment. This will be of great help if you are a shy person.

It may be that at first, you find it difficult to make friends or just to meet new people but in reality, it’s much easier than you think. Take into account that you have a lot in common with these people, to begin with. Therefore, shyness can be a topic of conversation to discuss with other participants. The fact of being shy does not mean that you had to stay away from others. You have the power to face shyness, provided you take the reins.

4. It improves decision-making:

The fourth psychological benefit of swimming is improving decision-making. Since swimming reduces stress, it allows a balance of your emotions, which will help you to understand situations where you have to make important choices with more foresight. In addition, as we mentioned earlier, swimming will help you improve your self-esteem, an essential asset for decision-making.

5. It improves your self-esteem:

How do you perceive yourself? Practicing swimming will allow you to come to terms with your own body if you find any fault or there is a part that you do not like. Thanks to this sport you will have a more toned, more athletic body and your health will be better. All these elements also contribute to improving your self-esteem.

In the same way, your self-esteem will be enhanced by all the benefits of swimming. If you trust yourself, if you feel confident and you are not shy, you will still feel much better with the practice of swimming. Did you know all the psychological benefits of swimming? This sport is very complete and, as we have mentioned, it not only brings us an improvement in the physical level, but also at the psychological level, which is an extremely positive contribution.

Moreover, once you have mastered all the basic swimming, you will have the opportunity to practice them when you go to the beach: so you can train even when you are on vacation.

I am not a natural-born exerciser. No one in my family was athletic. There were no evening walks and no one played sports. We didn’t run unless we were being chased. When I was first diagnosed with lupus, my rheumatologist told me I needed to walk half an hour every day. I thought he was crazy. I couldn’t walk from one end of my house to the other without being out of breath.

As it turns out, that was the standard advice I got from every doctor I saw. But I finally found one who explained it differently. He said that if I was only able to walk for 5 minutes, then that is where I should start. Stay at 5 minutes for a couple of weeks and then expand to 10 minutes. This way I could slowly work up to being able to walk for 30 minutes.

The next roadblock I threw up was that there wasn’t a good place to walk near my house. I live on the main highway with no shoulders or breakdown lanes. And the closest side street is almost as dangerous. It’s a cut-off that’s most often used as a race track for people in a big rush.

With lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and a bunch of other chronic diseases, there aren’t a whole lot of choices for me when it comes to exercise. I can’t run, can’t ride a bicycle, I have no athletic abilities at all. Whatever I do needs to be easy on my joints. So that leaves walking and SWIMMING!

We recently attended a birthday party for the youngest grandchild at the local community center/aquatics park. I’ve been there before but mainly just in the meeting rooms. This time, I walked around and checked out the whole place.

Besides the meeting rooms and the outdoor pool that I had already seen, I found an indoor walking track, a regulation size indoor pool, and a therapy pool. The therapy pool is 98° with circulating water like a giant hot tub. They also offer water aerobics and yoga classes.

Swimming and water aerobics are easy on the joints so I don’t really have an excuse not to try it. It’s not far from my home so I could go whenever I wanted. Its indoors so its available no matter which season or what the weather is like.

I probably won’t be swimming laps anytime soon. But I think I have finally found something that I want to do and that I’m able to do. It’s pretty rare when those 2 things come together.

You can resort to either exercising or dieting. The question is why go on a diet when you can jump in the pool? It assists you in cutting weight and stay in shape. It really helps you get in shape in a short period. If you regularly hit the pool and keep doing it for hours, you must have noticed something strange. You’ve been losing fats the whole time. That’s the magic of swimming. If you are at the age of 40, it’s gonna really hard for you to cut weight at this age especially when it comes to exercising. Not all people feel so energetic at this age. For example, it may hard for you to start lifting weights or do some aerobic activities. Regardless, losing weight is a function of eating fewer calories than you burn. Follow that rule and you’ll lose weight regardless of your exercise choices.

In other words, sometimes it can be an appetite stimulant. This means that you ought to watch out and be careful of your meals. In case you don’t have any swimming training background, it’s gonna be kinda difficult for you to be able to train hard enough to burn enough calories. The thing is that heads up breaststroke are not gonna cut it. you’re gonna ought to get some sample training sessions. Then you just gotta see how you’re getting on. The fact is that Swimming is really great simply because it’s an all-over workout. This means it puts all your muscles to work.

The good news is that swimming is not only hard but also fun. Yeah, you heard me right. It’s both fun and easy. In fact, swimming like many other exercises is so effective in terms of weight loss. in this article, we’ll be taking a close look at some of its advantages, how effective it can be for weight loss and finally what factors can both boost or hamper your weight loss procedure.

Should you do cardio exercises instead of swimming?

Cardio can kill your appetite but swimming makes you super hungry. In fact, if you see that you have a lot of weight to lose, you’ll progress much faster if you drop it off first and the reason is that cardio will become easier. By doing so, you’re not gonna lose anything or even recomp properly if you rely on exercise alone. It’s an undeniable fact that swimming builds some crazy back muscle. Swimming can be just as effective as other cardio exercises with proper nutrition and planning. There are still some people who fail to cut weight by swimming. The main root cause is that they do overeat after their workout. You are not supposed to be eating anything that comes to your mind after swimming. It’s true that it makes you hungry, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to overeat.

Can you cut weight by swimming?

Yes. Not only are you gonna be able to cut weight , you’ll be ableto keep fitand get in shape. Simply stated swimming is the kind of sport that truly engages most unique as well as individual muscle parties in your body. It is the best or I’d better say perfect sport to cut weight, especially if you do train on a regular basis together with long intervals, and coupled with other exercises. It’s an amazing exercise but it is worth mentioning that weight lifting can also boost the process. It’s a myth that cardio is the only way to burn fat and re-composition the body.

You wanna know why swimming shines? Swimming shines simply because It’s a full-body workout that is low impact. You’re gonna working muscles between muscles even if your form isn’t that perfect which is really good for alignment.

You gotta be cautious about swimming for weight loss purposes. What I’m trying to say is that a good swim work out is gonna make you extremely hungry. Meanwhile, It’s easy to overdo it and totally nullify your results.

How to swim to lose weight?

you’ll lose pounds of weight if you swim. Generally speaking, swimming is not gonna turn you into someone who is buffed. It has a tendency to lean people out. However, if you’re doing a lot of high-intensity short sets you should be able to reach your goals. In fact, your muscle gain will be in the shoulders and you might also get chicken legs. If you wanna get in shape and look good, I’d suggest 3 sessions of weights a week in addition to 3 to 5 swimming sessions. I’m sure that’s gonna do the trick.

When it comes to losing weight, banter afctor comes to mind and that is nothing but DIET. We can’t deny that swimming is so effective and has a positive impact on cutting weight. in other words, swimming is an amazing way to burn calories and fats, and if your caloric intake is reasonable, your body will have fewer nutrients to put into storage. Yes, I’m talking about FATS.

If you do something to increase the number of calories which are burned through swimming. This way you can be sure that cutting weight is certainly achievable with proper dieting. However, putting on muscle mass requires a higher intensity, lower reps, and resistance. If you do deep research on any high-level swim team, you’ll see that both sprinters and long-distance specialists spend time in the gym lifting weights or doing some high-intensity work outs to boost the procedure when not in the pool.

Is Swimming effectual than Running?

Purely put, swimming is way better than running and has a very positive impact on your body because and it is a total body workout as mentioned earlier. You can eat anything and everything when you swim and still lose weight, you cannot run for fat loss. you wanna know why? Injury is absolutely guaranteed. This is the real reason you rarely see those who are obese or kinda fat running all that much. Swimming does magic and this magic is it causes your cardio fitness to improve much more efficiently than weightlifting or running and is gonna help you burn calories at a faster rate, which finally results in your losing weight much faster. Swimming employs lots of muscles, and swimmers tend to be pretty fit on the whole.

In fact, Running is gonna help you generally burn more calories than swimming in the exact same span of time. The flip side to that is you can probably swim for longer than you can run especially if you’re overweight. When you are running, you’re constantly on a high heart rate which is what mostly defines the calories burned: heart rate over time.

Generally speaking, swimming can help you burn somewhat around 1.5x the number of calories as running if you’re doing the same distance without stopping. There is also a prominent factor which is worth mentioning here. Please take this fact into account that what you are putting into your body and the intensity of your workouts truly affect it. Do whatever activity you like to do or change it up a little. Don’t be sedentary all day and get to moving.

Advantages of swimming over running:

1. Swimming: • requires a body of water.
2. Running: requires land. • Winner: Swimming – Water takes up 70% of our planet

In other words, we can claim that swimming is kinda less intensive on the joints and more technical and gives you the chance to work for upper body development. In comparison to swimming, Running gives lower body development.

Another advantage of swimming over running is that you can swim longer than you can run ( I mean in the beginning). Swimming puts more muscles into work and definitely develop more upper body strength. All in all, swimming is way better than running in every way. It’s a great cardio and engages every muscle in your body, more so than running.

The benefits of swimming 30 minutes every day on weight loss:

Swimming for 30 minutes every day is gonna affect your cardiovascular endurance. Your cardiovascular endurance will increase, as well as your lung capacity. As mentioned earlier, swimming is the key you can use to open the door which leads to a calorie-burning room. In the span of years, someone who has been swimming for years will probably have noticeably better body composition than someone who has been sitting on the couch all day long for years. By swimming, you’re gonna be able to get toned, build some muscle and may start to grow gills. swimming is one of the best workouts you can do. It’s a great form of low impact exercise which assists you in burning lots of calories. If you wish to make it happen faster than ever, all you ought to do is from a combination of exercise and your body has to work harder to keep you warm in the more conducive environment. You’ll see an increase in abdominal and oblique muscles. It’s a Great exercise. You’ll notice that your recovery is much better.

How to boost the weight loss process while swimming?

All you ought to do is simply avoid any kind of beverages in the market that contains sugar. For example, you can start cutting out soda, chips, Gatorade, white bread as well as candy, etc. Be moderate in eating and never go crazy. We highly suggest that you keep a food log of everything you eat and drink and add up calories and macros. You can also weigh yourself once a week or twice per week and see if you have made any progress. If not, you ought to reduce your calorie intake. You ought to cut about 300 calories per day.

We recommend that you go easy on the carbs and in the meanwhile get that protein and meat in you, you need some fat after all. you ought to also drink about a gallon of water a day. You ought to eat lots of meat, veggies, nuts, and fruits. You ought to stay away from dairy and bread. Believe it or not, if you do these, you’ll be dropping a ton of weight. Make sure you’re eating enough healthy food though.

Top 5 benefits of swimming for weight loss:

• Whole-body exercise
• Gaining cardiovascular strength
• Burns calories
• Helps you manage weight
• Increases Heart Rate

As you can see, the items mentioned above are only a few of its many advantages. Swimming is so amazing and fun that you can barely tear your away from it. Being Fit has become an obsession for some people. Some people believed that fitness is only for models and those working in the realm of fashion and style. But, the definition of fitness goes beyond that. Not only it makes you lose weight and stubborn fats, but it also puts all your muscles into work. This is of great importance. You wanna be able to keep fit, then go for it. what’s the hold-up?

Losing weight finally comes down to 3 factors which are dieting, pre-meals and post-meals. It’s really important o know what you ought to eat before and after exercising. You ought to never eat things that would do nothing but counteract the effectiveness of your workouts. Swimming has a direct relationship with your cutting weight. the more you swim, the more calories you’ll be burning.

If you want to use swimming as a source of cardio then go for it. If you keep it to 2-3 sessions a week. Also don’t worry about form too much, just wear yourself out and burn those calories.

Can you lose fat by swimming?

Go for it. swimming helps you burn fats. If you wanna be able to lose fat by swimming, you should know that dieting is of significant importance. First and foremost you ought to enjoy swimming otherwise you’ll just quit right before when you hit targets. If you’re doing nothing now and start swimming for hours every week. You need to follow a healthy diet if you want to lose weight.

So go to a strict 6 day a week reasonably healthy diet. You are going to ought to find the cardio range for your age, weight, height and keep your heart rate there for over an hour to even start losing weight. Swimming works the whole body as mentioned earlier so it’s great for that, plus it’s gentle on the joints.

We should never forget the importance of dieting. It’s not like you have gone on diets such as Ketogenic or vegetarian diets. All you ought to do is make sure you’re eating properly. Diets make a bigger difference in determining what you will finally weigh and Workouts mostly determines how you will look at that weight.

If you wanna get better t swimming, you can simply keep looking at videos on swimming technique to get better. Swimming with bad technique won’t enable you to reach as high heart rate levels and you are more prone to injure yourself.

The best swimming fitness program to cut weight:

As with most types of exercise, the intensity is important. If you do a lot of kicking, you can keep your heart rate high, while saving your shoulder joints. For example, try doing sets of 300m, where have 200m of stroke exercises, followed by 100m of kicking. Here’s a sample workout of 1500m:

• 1 x 200 freestyle
• 100m kicking
• 2 x 100m freestyle
• 100m kicking
• 4 x 50m freestyle
• 100m kicking
• 8 x 25m freestyle
• 100m kicking
• 200m breaststroke
• 100m kicking

You can also find other programs like this. However, we suggest that you ask someone who has a bright background in the realm of swimming and fitness.

How many calories can you burn by swimming?

In fact, how much calorie you can burn totally depends on 2 vital factors which are your current weight and how much you are determined to cut weight. You can use calorie calculators to track your calorie intake. I’d say calorie counting is not that necessary, but you can do it if you want to. Not saying that it’s useless, I’m just saying you can monitor what you eat on a regular basis without having to count every calorie. A caloric deficit is a king for dropping weight, so track how many calories you are burning and consuming. The activity you pick to burn those calories should probably be something you enjoy and can stick with. Anything that puts you in caloric deficit will make you lose weight.

Swimming is great and definitely is a hard workout when done properly. When my SO lost 60lbs he added swimming after to gently get into exercise and recomp. Some people claim that losing weight is 90% what you put into your body and 10% what you can externally do to it. But, it’s been proved that exercising especially high-intensity workouts can affect it in great measure. There are people who can NOT go on a diet for special reasons. Swimming is the thing you have been looking for. However,

Is swimming a great cardio workout?

Swimming is a great cardio workout for many reasons. Let’s now take a look at some of them mentioned below:

1. It’s easy on joints and tendons indicating that this workout can be used your whole life with minimal wear and tear on your body. This is a huge deal for some people. Almost all exercise cause some sort of wear on your body, but swimming is one of the best ways to avoid this.
2. It works every muscle in your body compared to running, which is mainly a leg workout. Swimming trains all of your muscles for endurance.
3. Like most cardio workouts it could be geared towards HIIT, sprints, and endurance.
4. It’s great for your lungs. You can even do workouts geared towards this. Only taking a breath every 7 strokes. Basically learning how to pace yourself and your breathing giving you more control and understanding of your body and it’s limited.

Can you build muscle by swimming?

Yes, swimming will help you build muscle and look fit in the end. But these are both contingents on consistent and lengthy training where you’re pushing yourself to your limits constantly. A workout is what you make of it. Now, on the other hand, a three days a week type of thing may see moderate gains, but nowhere near the level of regular competitive training. Swimming will build some muscle over time, but you will never get the classic ‘swimmers physique’ unless you lift weights. Your growth will be very slow and limited to specific muscle groups. in high school and college, my swim team lifted weights three or four days a week.

The Final Takeaway

Swimming is an exercise that has a significant positive impact on the process. swimming aids you in setting fats on fire. It helps you burn calories in great measure. Like many other exercises it affects your metabolism. You shed weight simply because of a calorie deficit. It doesn’t matter how much you swim, how long or how far. If you are eating a calorie surplus, you will gain weight. Calculate your and aim to eat less than that. And honestly, you don’t want to lose 15 lb in 2 weeks! Idealy you need to aim at a loss of 1 to 2 Lbs a week. What is of great importance is the effectiveness of swimming on weight loss. for example, you can play basketball as well, but it won’t help you burn calories as much as swimming. Swimming is a fantastic workout but weight loss comes mainly from your diet. All you’re required to do is eat fewer calories than you burn and this way you’re gonna able to cut weight really fast.

In this article, we tried our best to provide you with valuable information on how to cut weight through swimming. We also covered some questions that may have been baffling your mind your weeks. We highly suggest that you do your own research on the efficacy of swimming on weight loss.

Swimming pools have risen in popularity over the years, meaning that we have also developed more effective ways of keeping a hygienic and safe environment for people to swim in. The issue that was encountered was the bacterial properties that still water could collect, such as escherichia coli which could lead to digestion problems. The element that is the most commonly used to divert harmful bacteria is Chlorine. Using chlorine can eliminate all the issues faced with using still water. Proportions have to be accurate, if the chemical balance is wrong it could potentially damage the pool and the ones swimming.

The process is quite smooth and involves the form of chlorine chemical compound; calcium hypochlorite or sodium hypochlorite. In water, the two compounds combine to form a chemical called hypochlorous acid and hypochlorous ion. These two compounds kill bacteria and pathogens through deteriorating the cell walls containing lipids. This process leaves the pathogens and bacteria cells oxidized, making them harmless to us; this is called an oxidation reaction. According to CDC; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chlorine works safely when accurately measured and in intermediate doses. High doses are harmful, but when put into water the chemical spreads throughout creating small levels of toxicity; safe to drink.

There are many advantages to the use of chlorine in drinking water and swimming pools. Before cities began to use chlorine to clean and disinfect their water, thousands died per year due to bacteria and dangerous pathogens that lived within the still water. Waterborne bacteria has also caused cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and hepatitis type A. Chlorine in pools and spa areas have also kept a stable hygienic environment, avoiding skin rashes and diarrhea caused by the untreated pathogens. Other than health-related advantages, chlorine is also simple and straightforward to use as a disinfecting agent according to the CDC; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, it is proven that chlorine provides a “residual” effect, meaning that it eliminates harmful pathogens from the water long term, overall creating a less rapid rate of these waterborne bacteria. The economical factors are also greatly beneficial, as other disinfecting agents have an effective but pricey result.

Although the advantages are quite positive and fill out all worry aspects, chlorine also come with many disadvantages. Firstly, due to the fact that chlorine is highly reactive when in contact with ammonia, only when people sweat or urinate in the pool. This creates amines that could lead to irritation to the eyes. Furthermore, chlorine could potentially strip/reduce the quantity of your hair’s natural oils leaving the hair weak or still. Adding onto the previous point, chlorine also highly affects the hair follicles causing future hair loss, although it is quite a reach and is not a primary reason as to why one may experience hair loss. Chlorine could cause acne, which is more prone to teenagers than any other age group. Looking at the social disadvantages, many are quite insecure about having acne and could ruin or damage one’s self image. In another perspective, acne shows up due to either infected or inflamed sebaceous glands, which connects to a health disadvantage. Finally, inexperienced dosers could add too much chlorine, which as stated above; ‘If the chemical balance is wrong it could potentially damage the pool and the ones swimming’. According to GHC; Global Healing Center, there are specific irritants named trichloramines which once again, reacts with organic materials such as sweat and urine. Trichloramines are believed to biologically destroy the cell barriers around the lungs.

Comparing the prices of other methods of creating pools, and other elements used as disinfecting agents, I could conclude that chlorine has an overall lower cost for maintenance and product than other methods. There are many, but I will state one example. To create a brief comparison, saltwater is also used for swimming pools. On a yearly average, chlorine pools invest around 300-800 USD. On the other hand, saltwater pools cost 70-100 USD, purely for the water. Contradicting to the lower price, the saltwater pools has other machinery to support it, leading to an approximate overall price of 1600 USD; data collected from fixit, citation in bibliography. Looking at these numbers, chlorine is much more beneficial economic wise, as it saves much more money for the same time period. Once again, chlorine has lower maintenance than other methods. Another example could be bromine. Bromine is also used in pools as a disinfecting agent, with one little problem. Bromine also requires a small dose of chlorine, meaning that there are zero benefits in investing in this method. Saltwater does not require any chlorine, but as shown above is in fact more pricey, with an average of 1100 USD saved. In the image included with this paragraph, it displays the process of the saltwater generator functions. Although that is what it displays, the point of the image is to simply show why the saltwater generator adds an extra expense to the initial cost. Drawing a conclusion, chlorine is an economically safe investment for the long term.

After I have researched and created this essay, I have drawn my own personal conclusion to using chlorine as a disinfecting agent. I personally think that using chlorine was indeed a smart and economically safe choice. Although I disagree with using chlorine to disinfect drinking water, I am aware that the advantages of this method completely outweigh the disadvantages.

The history of swimming is only 200 years old. Man has always wanted to imitate fish in water. The city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA is a pioneer in the modern era of this sport, when on July 23, 1827 he founded the first school of this aquatic discipline. This academy arises jointly with the National Swimming Society, founded in London in 1837, the first governing organization of this sport in the world. Two years later, in 1869, the Metropolitan Swimming Clubs Association was created, which later became the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA). With these organizations, swimming is encouraged and developed as a water sport, that is, the competition between participants to be the fastest over a set distance, exclusively through their own propulsion.

This makes it an individualized sport, since although they train as a team they face each other. The different distances to be covered are established according to the different levels of competence and would have to be carried out in special pools, so that they can have national or international validity. The origin of swimming is ancestral and there is proof of it through the study of the oldest civilizations. The knowledge of the therapeutic benefits of water was reflected in some Egyptian hieroglyphs dating from 2500 BC. There are indications that it was the Japanese who first held annual competitive swimming events, in the time of Emperor Sugiu in 38 BC.The origin of swimming is already found in Prehistory. It is proven by some paintings discovered from the Stone Age 7,500 years ago, which depict people swimming. In the same way, the first written reference dates from the year 2000 B.C. In ancient Egypt, the ‘art of swimming’ was very present among the population. You should know that this is a country with a sea coast and is divided in two by the great river Nile. In addition, it had an infinite network of channels.

Therefore not knowing how to swim was a risk to life. In ancient Japan, under the reign of Emperor Sugiu, as early as 38 BC. every year certain sports competitions were held, among which was to travel certain distances swimming. Centuries later, Emperor Go-Yozei imposed swimming in Japanese schools in the 17th century. Among the ancient Greeks, swimming was so widespread that even to say that a person was illiterate, it was said that he ‘cannot read or swim.’ The Greek philosopher Plato in 355 BC. C., says in one of his writings: ‘Should an official position fall on a person who is cultured, not like others who cannot swim or read?’ Although in ancient Greece great importance was attached to swimming, curiously this practice was never included in the program of the Olympic Games of those times. Therefore, to find the first origins of swimming, both sporting and competitive of relevance, we have to jump to the beginning of the 19th century, in Great Britain as we will see later. In fact, diving and swimming in the water was something associated with remedies for the many epidemic diseases.

We have seen that swimming was a highly appreciated sport in the civilizations of Greece and Rome, it was mainly used as training for soldiers or warriors, also that in Japan competitions were already held in the 1st century BC, but when the Middle Ages arrived in Europe his practice fell into oblivion. The inventor of swimming is considered to be the British John Trudgen (1852-1902), who promoted the style that bears his name, a kind of side swim that he had learned from the Indians of the Amazon. With this technique, a step forward in the evolution of styles was taken, showing that it was more effective than the old breaststroke. Swimming, as we know it today, is something very different from simply knowing how to swim. Swimming has very specific rules, styles and ways of swimming.Swimming was born as a sport at the beginning of the 19th century, in Great Britain. The National Swimming Society of London, was founded in 1837. Many swimming competitions were organized. In the year 1869, we found the first swimming world champion, Tom Morris, won a one-mile race on the River Thames. It was very popular and soon this sport spread throughout the world. In the last third of the 19th century, competitive swimming in several European countries already had its own federation. Also, it is successfully established in New Zealand and Australia.In the year 1870, swimming clubs began to be created in the United States, organizing frequent competitions. A few years later, on July 19, 1908, FINA was founded: International Swimming Federation.

At the 1900 Paris Olympics, back tests were already introduced. Later, in 1908 the trudgen style was improved by the Australian Richard Cavill who incorporated what is called continuous kick. This meant that it was possible to swim even faster.But the most significant advance in the sport of swimming came from the Stockholm Games in 1912. It was there that a Hawaiian prince, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, introduced a revolutionary style, apparently originating from the Polynesians of the seas of the South, which is what today is the crawl style. Duke Kahanamoku, obtained the gold medal in the 100 meters freestyle, broke the world record and began a period of absolute dominance, getting to participate in four Olympic Games. Starting in the 1920s, the crawl (which means something like ‘drag’) became the most effective style of swimming. But we are missing one more to complete the four styles of the Olympic program: the butterfly. It was from the 30s when this style originated, based on the breaststroke, only that the arms were collected out of the water.

This style is a breaststroke evolution and is the one that requires the highest energy expenditure. Some years later, the second differentiating part of the style was introduced, the undulating movement of the leg beat, with which the “butterfly” became “dolphin”, although the first name has traditionally been maintained. The first swim across the English Channel was made by Captain Matthew Webb. When we go back to the 19th century, because that is where we find the aquatic event that most contributed to the popularization of swimming: the crossing to the English Channel. On August 24, 1875, Captain Webb attempted the feat, departing from Dover, with the aim of reaching Calais. Perhaps he was not the first in history to try it, but he was the one who gained the greatest fame when in a little less than 22 hours he achieved his purpose. It is unthinkable to have Olympic Games without swimming, which, along with athletics and gymnastics, represents more than half of the history of the Olympics. Indeed, swimming was already present in the first modern Games, those of Athens in 1896, although that competition has almost nothing to do with the current ones. Among the few participants, the Hungarian Alfred Hajos, the first Olympic medalist in swimming, stands out. In the Games of Paris 1900, the tests were disputed in the river Seine, and in San Luis 1904, in an artificial lake.

Finally, in London 1908, swimmers could count on a swimming pool. Over the years, the Olympic program has expanded considerably. In Stockholm 1912, women participated for the first time in swimming, although they only competed in two swimming events plus lever jumps. And in 1920, women’ springboard jumps were included. The two types of jumps in the men’s category had already been Olympic since 1908. The last aquatic discipline to arrive at the Games, synchronized swimming, debuted in Los Angeles 1984. Synchronized swimming is one of the most plastic sports specialties. Throughout so many years of Olympic swimming, numerous figures have emerged who have starred in unforgettable deeds. You can see a good sample of them at the end of this article. But as significant data, we will point out here that Mark Spitz has 9 gold medals, Dawn Fraser is the only woman who has won the same test three times (100 meters freestyle in 1956, 1960 and 1964), in Munich 72 were beaten 30 world records and in Seoul 88 the United States (men) and the former GDR (women) dominated much of the tests.