Swimming

          Human beings have been swimming for millennia. According to Wikipedia, Stone Age cave drawings depict individuals swimming and there are written references in the Bible and the Greek poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" dating back 1,500 to 2,000 years. There are even Egyptian clay seals from 4000 BC showing four swimmers doing a version of the crawl, and the most famous swimming drawings were apparently found in the Kebir desert and were estimated to also be from around 4000 BC.
          Swimming is an activity that burns lots of calories, is easy on the joints, supports your weight, builds muscular strength and endurance, improves cardiovascular fitness, cools you off and refreshes you in summer, and one that you can do safely into old age. In this article, I'll review the history of swimming, the benefits, the strokes, how to get started, what to wear, equipment you need, where to do it, and more.
          Breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly, and crawl (freestyle) are the most popular swim strokes. The breaststroke and butterfly are more difficult to learn than the backstroke and crawl.

          There are a couple of options for turning around when you reach the wall during lap swimming. You can simply touch the wall and turn around and start swimming again or you can do a flip turn. The flip turn is essentially a somersault in the water where you flip and turn and use your legs to power-kick off the wall. The flip turn, when completed properly, is fast, efficient, and time-saving. If you've ever watched Olympic swimming, you see the swimmers gracefully execute their flip turns. Here are the basics.