Editing Swimming (section)

==History==
{{Main article|History of swimming}}
[[File:River crossing.jpg|thumb|[[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] conqueror [[Babur]]'s troops swim across a river.]]

Swimming has been recorded since [[Prehistory|prehistoric times]], and the earliest records of swimming date back to [[Stone Age]] [[Cave of Swimmers|paintings]] from around 7,000 years ago. Written references date from 2000 BCE.  Some earliest references include the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], the [[Iliad]], the [[Odyssey]], the [[Bible]] (Ezekiel 47:5, Acts 27:42, Isaiah 25:11), [[Beowulf]], and other sagas.

In 450 BC, [[Herodotus]] described a failed seaborne expedition of [[Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)|Mardonius]] with the words "…those who could not swim perished from that cause, others from the cold".<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Tipton |first1=M. J. |last2=Collier |first2=N. |last3=Massey |first3=H. |last4=Corbett |first4=J. |last5=Harper |first5=M. |date=November 2017 |title=Cold water immersion: kill or cure? |url=https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/files/7780408/Cold_water_immersion_kill_or_cure.pdf |journal=Experimental Physiology |language=en |volume=102 |issue=11 |pages=1335–1355 |doi=10.1113/EP086283 |pmid=28833689 |issn=0958-0670}}</ref>

The coastal tribes living in the volatile{{clarify|reason=What does "volatile" mean here?|date=August 2021}} [[Low Countries]] were known as excellent swimmers by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]]. Men and horses of the [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi tribe]] could cross the [[Rhine]] without losing formation, according to [[Tacitus]]. [[Dio Cassius]] describes one surprise tactic employed by [[Aulus Plautius]] against the [[Celts]] at the [[Battle of the Medway]]:<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/60*.html | title=Cassius Dio — Book 60}}</ref>

<blockquote>The [British Celts] thought that Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge, and consequently [[bivouacked]] in rather careless fashion on the opposite bank; but he sent across a detachment of [Batavii], who were accustomed to swim easily in full armour across the most turbulent streams. ... Thence the Britons retired to the river Thames at a point near where it empties into the ocean and at flood-tide forms a lake. This they easily crossed because they knew where the firm ground and the easy passages in this region were to be found, but the Romans in attempting to follow them were not so successful. However, the [Batavii] swam across again and some others got over by a bridge a little way up-stream, after which they assailed the barbarians from several sides at once and cut down many of them.</blockquote>

The [[Talmud]], a compendium of Jewish law written compiled c. 500 CE, requires fathers to teach their son how to swim.<ref>{{cite web |title=Kiddushin 29a |url=https://www.sefaria.org.il/Kiddushin.29a?lang=he |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>

In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a Swiss–German professor of languages, wrote the earliest known complete book about swimming, ''Colymbetes, sive de arte natandi dialogus et festivus et iucundus lectu'' (''The Swimmer, or A Dialogue on the Art of Swimming and Joyful and Pleasant to Read'').<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Yolanda|last1=Escalante|first2=Jose M.|last2=Saavedra|title=Swimming and Aquatic Activities: State of the Art|journal=Journal of Human Kinetics|date=30 May 2012|issn=1640-5544|pages=5–7|volume=32|issue=2012|pmid=23487594|pmc=3590867|doi=10.2478/v10078-012-0018-4|doi-broken-date=6 March 2025 }}</ref><ref name=":1" />

[[Swimming (sport)|Competitive swimming]] in Europe started around 1800, mostly using the breaststroke, which started as the current breaststroke arms and the legs of the butterfly stroke. In 1873, John Arthur Trudgen introduced the [[trudgen]] to Western swimming competitions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Swimming {{!}} Ramona Aquatics |url=http://ramonaaquatics.net/history-of-swimming/ |access-date=2017-02-25 |website=ramonaaquatics.net |language=en-US |archive-date=2019-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405205206/https://ramonaaquatics.net/history-of-swimming/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Swimming was introduced as a competitional sporting event in the [[1896 Summer Olympics]] in [[Athens]], [[Greece]].

The butterfly was developed in the 1930s and was considered a variant of the breaststroke until it was accepted as a separate style in 1953.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taormina |first=Sheila |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qGIBwAAQBAJ&q=butterfly+stroke+developed+in+the+1930s+considered+a+variant+of+the+breaststroke+until+1952&pg=PT87 |title=Swim Speed Strokes for Swimmers and Triathletes: Master Freestyle, Butterfly, Breaststroke and Backstroke for Your Fastest Swimming |date=2014-10-01 |publisher=VeloPress |isbn=9781937716608 |language=en}}</ref>