Swimming competitions - one of the most amazing spectacles in the world. It is breathtaking when you watch the confident, strong movements of swimmers on the relay. No wonder swimming is called the most beautiful sport. How did it originate, and what is Russia's contribution to its development?
Why is swimming useful?
Swimming is called one of the most rewarding sports. It is no coincidence that doctors recommend people with a wide variety of problems and diseases to deal with it. First of all, swimming is a wonderful source of activity, despite the fact that all muscle groups work in the right mode and there is no overload.
Thanks to this sport, the cardiovascular system develops. When a person swims, the heart pumps blood more efficiently. The discipline is also useful for the musculoskeletal system, since the muscles and ligaments of the legs are trained. They stretch and harden in water. Those who spend a lot of time in the same position must necessarily get out to the pool at least once a week. Swimming is highly recommended for those who suffer from scoliosis, cerebral palsy, the consequences of heart disease. Among other things, it helps prevent venous congestion. It is advised to do it as a physiotherapy exercise, because water heals and cleanses the skin, and also has a positive effect on the nervous system - relieves irritability, irritability, soothes and tones. In addition, swimming helps to strengthen the immune system, so it is useful for people prone to frequent colds. This is also the least traumatic sport!
Touching the story
Swimming has been known since ancient times. Archaeologists believe that already in Phenicia people were engaged in this sport. Of course, then he did not have a competitive gaming character. Rather, it was necessary to be able to swim in order to survive, in order to help oneself get food. For the first time, the ancient Greeks began to engage in swimming as a way of physical preparation, and since then it has been enjoying unquenchable popularity. Now it is divided into several types.
The first swimming schools appeared in the eighteenth century. A century later, pools began to be built everywhere for practicing this discipline. The peak of its popularity swimming reached the end of the nineteenth century.
First competition
The very first competition between swimmers took place in the sixteenth century, in Venice. Since then, swimming competitions have been held regularly, but only three centuries later, in England, the first official organization was registered - the "Association of sports enthusiasts in England." The British gave a start, and after them similar associations began to open around the world.
In 1890, the European Championship in swimming was held in Austria-Hungary, and four years later the discipline was included in the program of the Olympic Games.
Swimming competitions are both personal - when a victory or defeat is awarded to one person, and personal-team - here the points are distributed between individuals and are also given to the team in aggregate.
Types of swimming
As mentioned above, there are several types of this discipline. The oldest is considered sports - it originated around the sixteenth century. These are various swimming competitions at a distance of 50 to 1500 meters in the pool and up to 25 kilometers in open space. This type bears such a name, because the methods used by relay participants are exclusively sports, allowing them to develop high speed. They are spelled out in the rules, and the use of others is simply prohibited.
Another view is game swimming. These are outdoor games in the water, which are successfully used in training young athletes. This type of swimming, of course, is most suitable for children and adolescents. He develops coordination, trains muscles, is aimed at developing a sense of camaraderie. To him belongs, for example, water polo, which is now included in Olympic sports.
Applied swimming is called overcoming obstacles in the water, ways to save drowning people, methods of diving to depth.
And, finally, the fourth kind of swimming is synchronized swimming, or, to put it another way, artistic, figured. There are a variety of choreographic movements with gymnastic elements. Perhaps synchronized swimming can rightly be called the most beautiful view. It is divided into two parts: technical (the athlete is indicated which figures to perform) and free (no restrictions). It happens as a pair, and team.
History of Synchronized Swimming
Synchronized swimming originated at the beginning of the last century in Canada and originally had a different name - water ballet, for its similarity with this type of art. Synchronized swimmers first performed at the Olympic Games in 1948, but synchronized swimming became the real Olympic discipline only twenty years later. Starting this year, it is officially called "artistic swimming." Perhaps this is true: after all, only through long, exhausting workouts that require endurance, flexibility, great returns, athletes can achieve synchronous movements, which we, the audience, admire so much.
There are two parts to synchronized swimming competitions, as mentioned above. Technical duets and teams are given a certain number of elements and time (20 and 50 seconds), for which they must complete each, and in a strict order. The figures are indicated by a special committee. In the free section, the coach and athletes are given ample space for imagination - here you can show anything you like, however, time is still limited (4 minutes to duets and 5 minutes to teams). The more complex and artistic the number, the more points the judges will put. An important role in obtaining a score is played by an arbitrary performance.
Synchronized swimming has reached the greatest popularity and development in Canada, America, France, Spain and Russia.
Swimming in Russia
The very first All-Russian swimming competitions were held in Moscow in the 1920s. Since 1928, it has been an indispensable discipline in the Spartakiad. Swimming, like any other sports, received a new round of development after the war.
Currently, in Russia it is one of the most beloved and popular disciplines. Various competitions are constantly held - just look at the calendar of swimming competitions to see this. Almost every day is scheduled every month - tournaments, championships, regional competitions, championships, cups ... During 2017, athletes took part (and still will) take part in the Grand Prix for open water swimming in Santa Fe and the Cup of Russia , and in the competitions "Funny Dolphin", and in the World Cup ...
In the twenties of the last century, synchronized swimming also began in Russia, but the first competitions began to be held only in the 1960s. Previously, they were only urban, but in 1981 the national team of our country successfully performed in Yugoslavia at the European Championships.
Since 2000, synchronized swimming in Russia has received a new impetus. Our athletes began to confidently lead the Olympic Games. There was an opportunity to talk about the actual development of this discipline in our country. So, over the past seventeen years, five Olympics took place. The synchronized swimming gold was taken every time by the Russian team.
“Not all that glitters is gold,” says a famous proverb. She does not hold wisdom - she rightfully refers to swimming in general and synchronized swimming in particular. A lot of physical and mental suffering is behind that beautiful picture that we see from the stands and the screen. However, the viewer, as a rule, is unaware of this. And that means that only for this swimmers are worthy of admiration and respect!