The History of Water Sports -

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The History of Water Sports

The History of Water Sports

Swimming is noted in many of the classics as relating to heroism and religion. Nicolas Wynman's Dialogue Concerning the Art of Swimming (1538) is the first recorded written document on swimming methods. Swimming first appeared in the Olympics in 1896, paralleled to the development of the swimming pool. Swimming the English Channel is the most publicized non-Olympic event. It proves excellence in strength and endurance. Matthew Webb from England was the first man to cross the English Channel in 1875, and later Gertrude Ederle of the Unites States of America became the first woman to cross in 1926.

Snorkeling to view exotic fish and aquamarine life is a much-loved vacation adventure. In ancient times snorkels were crafted from hollow reeds found in lakes and marshes. Pliny the Elder, a first century A.D. Roman makes reference to the snorkel, so the activity holds rank as one of the oldest recorded water sports. Loenardo da Vinci created a more modern snorkel when the Venetian senate summonsed him to do so. Divers attached this hollow tube to leather helmets The present-day diver's snorkel is typically a J-shaped tube that is open at the top and has a mouthpiece at the other end, usually no more than 2 ft (61 cm) long.

American West-coasters go wild riding the waves on a wooden plank known as a surfboard. Originally, surfing developed in Hawaii in the nineteenth century. It became popular in California in the 1920s, and became a hit youth sport in the 1960s.

Surfers originally used long, cumbersome wooden boards but now ride lightweight synthetic boards that allow a greater degree of maneuverability. Hawaii holds annual international surfing championships.

Water polo originated in England in 1870, and American joined the bandwagon in the early 1900s. Many club and college teams exist for this rigorous sport. Americans gave the game a twist by using a softer rubber ball in a larger pool, a game known as softball water polo. Violence and rough play ended this faction of the sport, and today only the hardball version continues to be played worldwide. Men began Olympic level water polo in 1900, and women first played in the Olympics in 2000.

Diving, another favorite Olympic sport, initiated competition in 1871 off the London Bridge. Diving is now a popular sport at the high school and collegiate level, and is an amazing display of strength, control and agility.

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table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/disney-cruise-line-sets-sail/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B6CB3796E-D56E-4625-B403-FC9A35EF5507%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1254875402ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNFny-wTtBnrbtfrtyMVLrdTym4fOwDisney bCruise/b Line Sets bSail/b for Russia, Northern Europe and b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrOct 6, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1For the summer of 2010, the Disney Wonder will shift to four- and five-night bcruises sailing/b to Nassau, Key West and Disney#39;s private island, Castaway Cay. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/oct/05/mississippi-paddle-wheeler-cruises-are-sailing/cid=0ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNEn-Ro7h7sa8HSu9xZxjTXZkUJu1gMississippi paddle-wheeler bcruises/b are bsailing/b into nostalgia/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fVentura County Star,nbsp;CAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 5, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1I can#39;t think of a more pleasant way to see this beautiful country of ours than to board a paddle-wheel steamboat and bcruise/b down the Mississippi River. b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100301512.htmlcid=1253881246ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNHIu4wssDdupUogzvjfRcDwvIPTVQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=n1RIdHrcGEcJimgurl=media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/10/03/PH2008100301514.jpg width=53 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Washington Post/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/travel/cruises/stories/2008/10/05/kid_cruise_travel.htmlcid=1253881246ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNFUZ4JAr90y3-nCAdbeve9u1RzaCAKid-friendly bcruise/b can be a trip of a lifetime/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAtlanta Journal Constitution,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 3, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1By LYNN and CELE SELDON Not all bcruises/b are created equal when it comes to welcoming kids like they’re members of the family. When bsailing/b the high seas b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/travel/story.html%3Fid%3D5fd1f2d3-fda1-4e7a-9036-6dd5ac0bdcf6cid=1253881246ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNFxu1Kr5PWkC_Ch-h4cFeciRGNu-ATips for a smooth family vacation at sea/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCalgary Herald/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html%3Fid%3D3e5b1dc0-9426-445b-996d-baa94be06f96cid=1253881246ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNHg_wve1FKCE7hKEJTWV34zgdK5FgLines tout new distractions - on and off their ships/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Gazette (Montreal)/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1253881246hl=ennobrall 20 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/travel/cruises/stories/2008/10/03/go_great_lakes_cruise_ships.htmlcid=0ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNE9TldrzZWDt1KwKI-w-NGUZrIlZAGreat Lakes adds more small bcruise/b ships/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fAtlanta Journal Constitution,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobrOct 3, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The ship will bsail/b one 10-night and one 11-night bcruise/b between Toronto and Chicago in June and July. Ports of call include Windsor, Ontario; b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/holland-america-line-announces-new/story.aspx%3Fguid%3D%257B45CC6F64-B23C-465A-8C5C-8E67DC0ED7F8%257D%26dist%3Dhpprcid=1252724155ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNGoGyJVRkFRXL40Mtq1_TLU7Vg9NwHolland America Line Announces New, Six-Day Scandinavia bCruises/b b.../b/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fMarketWatchnbsp;-/font nobrSep 30, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1The second bsailing/b, departing Rotterdam July 24, explores the coast of Norway with calls at Flam, Bergen and Stavanger. Two days of scenic bcruising/b in b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/3116184/Mediterranean-cruises-a-first-timers-guide.htmlcid=1252996570ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNH6SuE1sEcJeTEDwadrKyBFCTX28Aimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=CmXoS6X5-KwJimgurl=www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01001/venice-cruise-460_1001988c.jpg width=80 height=50 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/3116184/Mediterranean-cruises-a-first-timers-guide.htmlcid=1252996570ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNH6SuE1sEcJeTEDwadrKyBFCTX28AMediterranean bcruises/b: a first-timer’s guide/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk,nbsp;United Kingdomnbsp;-/font nobrOct 1, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Some bcruises/b stay in the west, perhaps bsailing/b from Barcelona to the French Riviera, Italy and Tunisia; others remain in the east, bcruising/b from Venice to b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.easier.com/view/Travel/Holidays/article-207375.htmlcid=1252996570ei=nTjsSM_lOqiY6AOV3dH_Agusg=AFQjCNGtIjj3AiP6jogv3fFkH-HAYNy-AQSet bsail/b for a nautical family adventure/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrEasier (press release)/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1252996570hl=ennobrall 2 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

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The History of Water Sports

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