KEVIN B.

ADRIANO
SWIMMING CLASS

HISTORY OF SWIMMING
Swimming can be dated back to the Stone Age, but did not truly become an organised sport until the
early 19th century.

AN ANCIENT DISCIPLINE
Prehistoric man learnt to swim in order to cross rivers and lakes we know this because cave
paintings from the Stone Age depicting swimmers have been found in Egypt. Swimming was also
referred to in Greek mythology.

DAWN OF A SPORT
Swimming was not widely practised until the early 19th century, when the National Swimming
Society of Great Britain began to hold competitions. Most early swimmers used the breaststroke, or
a form of it.

DISCOVERING THE CRAWL

Based on a stroke used by native South Americans, the first version of the crawl featured a scissor
kick. In the late 1880s, an Englishman named Frederick Cavill travelled to the South Seas, where he
saw the natives performing a crawl with a flutter kick. Cavill settled in Australia, where he taught the
stroke that was to become the famous Australian crawl.

OLYMPIC HISTORY
Swimming has featured on the programme of all editions of the Games since 1896. The very first
Olympic events were freestyle (crawl) or breaststroke. Backstroke was added in 1904.

In the 1940s, breaststrokers discovered that they could go faster by bringing both arms forward over
their heads. This practice was immediately forbidden in breaststroke, but gave birth to butterfly,
whose first official appearance was at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. This style is now one of the
four strokes used in competition.

Womens swimming became Olympic in 1912 at the Stockholm Games. Since then, it has been part
of every edition of the Games. The mens and womens programmes are almost identical, as they
contain the same number of events, with only one difference: the freestyle distance is 800 metres for
women and 1,500 metres for men.
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SWIMMING IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Filipinos needed motivation to appreciate swimming as a competitive sport. This is due to
the fact that their ancestors were sea-faring people owing to the more than 7,100 islands which compose
this country. The American military men introduced swimming as a comparative sport in the country.

Through the pioneering efforts of YMCA leaders working among the American Military forces,
the rudiments of the sports were impressed upon the Filipinos who saw in 1907 the construction of the first
swimming pool in the country at Fort McKinley YMCA.

The holding of the first dual swimming meet between Manila YMCA and the Fort McKinley
YMCA in 1910 marked the formal inception in the Philippines of swimming as a competitive sports. This
initial competition among members of the defunct Philippine Scouts of the US Army in the Philippines with
the motive power of the YMCA which was later joined by the American Columbian Club in the effort, kindled
Filipino interest in the sport.

In 1911, Filipinos watched avidly from the sidelines as the first swimming championship meet
was held at the American Columbian Club swimming pool with competing American team from the Manila
YMCA, the American Columbian Club, and the USS Saratoga.

In the following year (1912), the Filipinos participated in the second championship meet. Of the
42 individual entries, the late Condrado Benitez emerged as the most outstanding Filipino swimmer.

During the Far Eastern Games held at Manila in 1913, the Philippine Team composed of
Condrado Benitez, J. del Pan, C. Aiville and L. Cristobal won the championship against China and Japan.

The following decade, educational institutions, the first of which was the University of the
Philippines, followed later on by the Philippines Women's University, trained swimmers.

In 1924, Teofilo Yldefonso, a Philippine Scout soldier of the US Army won recognition as the
greatest Filipino swimmer for his feats in national championship meets, the Far East and Olympic Games.
Muslims, Filipinos from Sulu also made names in national championship competition. Great muslim
swimmers before World War II were Jikirum Adjalludin, Arasad Alpad, Tuburan, Angkang Nakaria and Asdai
Tahil.

The succeeding years up to 1951 saw the staging of the sixth Formosa - Philippines Biennial-
Swimming championship meets, the 9th and 10th Far Eastern Games and the series of Manila-Hongkong
Interport Swimming meets wherein Filipino men and women swimmers showed outstanding performance.
They were Sotero Alcantara, Rene Amabuyok, Edilberto Bonus, Jacinto Cayco, Nulsali Maddin, Mahamad
Mala, Eugenio Palileo, Artemio Salamat, Serafin Villanueva, Artemio Villavieja, Lourdes Alba, Angela
Fermin, Norma Guerrero, Andres Ofilada, Ana Labayan, Encarnacion Partilo and Erudito Vito.
 Women swimmers competed in the 1931 National Women's Swimming Championship meet at
the Rizal Memorial Pool where the University of the Philippines won. The PWU Women's team won the
championship in 1934. Women's participation in swimming competitions were held yearly since then.

Swimming competitions were suspended during the Japanese occupation. It was only in 1948
when swimming competitions were resumed. The first Asian games held in New Delhi in 1951 gave the
Filipino swimmers the opportunity to participate once again in international competition. Among the
swimmers were Artemio Salamat, Jacinto Cayco and Nurhatab Rajab.

The second Asian games was held in Manila in 1954. Our swimmers who earned honors for
our country were Parson Nabiula, Amado Jimenez, Robert Cullins, Haydee Coloso, Norma Yldefonso,
Sandra Von Geise, Lolita Ramirez, Corazon Cullen, Bana Sailani, Agapito Lozada, Raul Badulis and
Jacinto Cayco. The participants to the third Asian Games in Tokyo in 1958 brought honors to the country.
They were Bana Sailani, Walter Brown, Rodolfo Agustin, Lorenzo Cortez, Haydee Coloso, Gertrudes
Lozada, Sylvia Von Geise, Victoria Cagayat, and Jocelyn Von Geise.

The fourth Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia in 1962 marked another significant victory for
the Filipino swimmers. They placed second. The standouts were Haydee Espino, Gertrudes Lozada,
Sampang Hassan, Rolando Landrito and Annurhussin Hamsain.

Participation of Filipino swimmers continued. In 1962, the Federation System under Republic
Act 3135 was inaugurated.

PASA launched a relatively-well-rounded and systematic program of development for the purpose of
reinforcing the Philippines against the challenges from other countries. The first age group overseas program
was the Philippines-Hongkong YMCA which started in 1968. From then on, Hongkong and Philippines is
hosting alternately for this annual swim meet. This program continued on until 1978.

1
In 1970, the First Asian Age Group was hosted by Singapore . This is the first age group swimming team
sent by the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association. Powerhouse Japan and China were included in this yearly
swim event. There were 16 age groupers who represented the country. Philippines came in second behind host
Singapore which had more swimmers than any of the participating teams. The mere fact that we beat Japan and
China at the time was an enormous feat for the team. The asian age group went on until 1976. In 1977 the Southeast
Asian (SEA) Age Group was born, hosted by Singapore , and later on, the ASEAN.

With the leadership of Eduardo Ledesma and former national standouts like , Ral Rosario and
Eric Buhain, PASA attained remarkable progress in the development of swimming. Such projects as
Regular Age Group Competitions, Coach to Coach Program, Annual Summer Development Program,
Olympic Development Swimming Program, Community Pools Construction Program, Milo Learn to Swim
Program and National Swimming Grand Prix were launched.

Today, a fresh start in Philippine Swimming is now unfolding with the creation of Aquatics Sports
Association of the Philippines (ASAP). ASAP is a non-stock, non-profit organization registered with the

1 Contributed by Grace Luna

Securities and Exchange Commission. As stated in its Articles of Incorporation, ASAP aims to promote
swimming and other aquatic sports throughout the country; and to recruit, train and develop world-class
athletes to represent our country in various international competitions. ASAP is headed by Atty. Luz
Arzaga-Mendoza as president, with Atty. Jane Ong as vice-president; Susan Papa, secretary; Beth
Mascardo of synchronized swimming, treasurer; Augusto Bonilla and Cesar Espino, trustees.

The swimming association is also strengthening its membership base and renewing its
campaign for both individuals and group to unite under the ASAP banner. It is now working on the
education and certification of all local swim coaches and instructors with the end in view of upgrading the
quality of coaching in the Philippines. This will involve a series of level of certification for those concerned in
the different aspect of coaching.

At present, the ASAP leadership is committed to a policy of good governance and will be
transparent in all its affairs, hiding nothing and simply working towards the betterment of swimming in the
country.
THE 4 BASIC STROKES

Backstroke When swimming the backstroke, your face is to the sky because youre on
your back. Think of this as the stroke you learn after you learn how to float. To get moving
doing the backstroke, lay on your back, extend your arms straight in front of you, and then,
in an alternating fashion, pull your arm (thumbs out) behind your head before landing pinky
first into the water. The stroke doesnt stop when you hit the water. Keep on pulling that arm
through until youve reached a 360-degree turn. Then repeat with the other arm. While
performing this cyclical pattern, your feet will remain in a constant flutter kick, working with
your upper body to propel you swiftly through the water.

Butterfly The butterfly is often the stroke that will be pretty tricky for your child. For this
stroke, you are on your stomach in the water. Start by placing both of your arms straight in
front of you at the 12 oclock position, palms slightly tilted outward at about a shoulders
width apart. For the arm motion, move your arms through the surface of the water
downward to perform a semicircular pattern until your arms resurface. While performing this
arm movement, your legs should be scurrying through the water in a dolphin-like fashion.

Freestyle Youre probably already familiar with the freestyle stroke without even knowing
it! It probably was the first stroke you learned as a kid. Freestyle is performed facedown,
with alternating movement of the arms. Each stroke is performed by driving an arm forward
and pushing the water below the surface to propel you forward. Your body (hips and
shoulders) should tilt with each arm stroke. As you move your arms, turn your face to the
side to breathe. You should always be looking at the bottom of the pool, or to the side, never
lifting your head out of the water to look straight ahead. While your arms are rotating, your
legs should be in a constant flutter kick.

Breaststroke The breaststroke is the fourth and final competitive swim stroke. In fact, it
reminds a lot of people of the movement of a frog! Start facedown in the water with your
arms at your side. For the arm motion, push your hands forward (about shoulder-width
apart) all the way before settling into a curvature motion, each arm pressing away from your
body, through the water and then back to it to complete the circle. Each time your hands
meet in front of you, bring your chest out of the water to take a breath.

After your arms complete the circle, your legs will alternate the movement, starting with your
legs bent and pulled up near your waist, and then propelling outward and backward in a
snapping motion as they complete the full circle, pushing your body forward.