An Overview of the Origin of Swimming

An Overview of the Origin of Swimming Written records of swimming date back to near 2000 BC, however, nowhere are strokes or techniques mentioned, children were simply taught to swim. A record from between 2160 BC and 1780 BC from an Egyptian nobleman says â€Å"his children took swimming lessons with the king’s children† (Colwin 4). In addition, many passages from the Biblical Old Testament mention swimming or the act of swimming; such as in the old testament book of Isaiah: â€Å"as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim† (KJV Isa 25:11). Until around the 1500s, no swimming manuals teaching specific techniques existed. In 1559, Sir Everard Digby wrote, in Latin, A short introduction for to learne to swimme. Later Christofer Middleton translated Sir Digby’s work into the common English â€Å"for the better in|struction of those who vnderstand not the Latine tongue† (Digby 1). Digby wrote instructions on how to swim â€Å"like a dog† and â€Å"like a dolphin† as well as many other forms (Digby table of contents). From there, other manuals were written to further refine strokes. While swimming originates as an old pastime, until the early 1800s competitive swimming’s history did not exist because competitive swimming itself did not exist. Up until then, swimming acted as a pleasurable pastime intended more for relaxation than exercise. That mentality shifted during the 19th century in Britain with the opening of St. George’s Baths in 1828, the first indoor public pool. Following that in 1837, the British National Swimming Society made many more indoor pools and began holding swimming competitions (Sharma 1). While the sport remained on the back burner for several decades it steadily grew in popularity until swimming debuted on a global scale in the Grecian Olympics of 1896. In recent decades, athletes such as Mark Spitz, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian, Natalie Coughlin, Katie Ladecky, and Missy Franklin have rocketed the swimming world into becoming one of the most televised sports during the summer Olympics. The language the sport of competitive swimming employs many words from non-aquatic sources. For example, the butterfly stroke, though allegedly invented in 1933 by Brooklyn swimmer Henry Myers (Colwin 30). Instead the butterfly stroke derives its name from the butterfly insect since the technique somewhat resembles that of its namesake. Several other words in swimming’s lexicon follow the same mentality. Named not for who invented the technique, but rather for what it looks like. Kicks such as the dolphin and whip kick when categorized in this way provide pristine examples for this method. The dolphin kick looks like that of a dolphin’s tail moving up and down in the water. The whip kick, sometimes called the frog kick, also makes sense because as human legs perform the kick they mimic the action of frog legs. The swim strokes themselves hold other examples of words coming from non-aquatic sources. Butterfly (previously explained), backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle all have nothing to do with water. The back and breast strokes seem to explain themselves, one executed while swimming on your back and the other executed while swimming with your chest or breast side of your body facing downward in the water. While the easiest to swim, freestyle tends to exists as a more complex term to understand. Technically breast, back, and fly exist as alternate strokes for the freestyle though usually traditionally performed as the complete reverse of backstroke. The stroke of free takes on the dictionary definition of â€Å"enjoying personal rights or liberty† (â€Å"free†), which allows swimmers to swim whatever stroke they deem the easiest or the fastest for themselves. Most of the words in the following lexicon find their roots in Germanic languages. Old Norse, Old Dutch, Old English, and even Old Frisian boast the origin of these words. Invented in Britain, competitive swimming has its lexical language background in these and other Proto-Germanic roots. Of the words in the following lexicon only five can have their origins traced back to Latin, French, or Greek. Of the five outliers, three are Latinate in origin. ‘Dolphin’ derived from a term for the animal and the constellation ‘dolphinus’, ‘paddles’ from the Medieval Latin term ‘padela’, and ‘cap’ from the word cappa. The Old French word ‘touch’ from ‘tochier’ joins with a Germanic word ‘pod’ to make the compound ‘tochierpod’ or ‘touchpad’. Finally, swimming gets its word ‘cards’ from the Greek word ‘khartes’. Verbs and nouns entirely comprise the lexicon list, evidence for this observation lies in the reasoning that verbs and nouns describe either an action or a piece of equipment. However, three words defy normal constructs of language. ‘Dolphin’, ‘whip’, and ‘flutter’ are normally used in language as a noun and two verbs respectively. In swimming, these words take on the role of an adjective because they are describing the type of kick used in a stroke (the dolphin kick in butterfly, the whip kick in breaststroke, and the flutter kick in backstroke and freestyle). Swimming, with its complex history of starting as a leisure activity and evolving into a competitive sport, becomes a wonderful example of how a language can adapt its words to fit a new activity. In addition to creating a new lexicon, a competitive swimmer may ignore old definitions as new definitions are created such as the case of ‘dolphin’. The following lexicon presents a collection of twenty swimming terms that demonstrate all of what has been previously written.

Denialism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Denialism - Essay Example In most cases of such dissenters, the stronger the emotion behind their beliefs, the more they are likely to invariably use cognitive inaccuracies to hold onto the false belief. In general, human beings tend to believe that there is a reason, and a physical logical one at that, why certain things happen. This especially true where emotional subjects such as the health of children is concerned. For example, they will feel that there is a reason why autistic children are that way. Some parents will also use examples of coincidental situations that occur to prove that there is a connection between autism and vaccinations. For instance, if a child dies soon after being vaccinated, its parents are likely to use that incident as justification for refusing to let their other children get vaccinated. Also, people have the tendency of expressing reservations on only the procedures that they are able to remember easily. In most cases where children receive vaccinations, they have no adverse re actions to them. This is an extremely common occurrence that is never reported on. Moreover, the media will report extensively whenever a child has adverse reactions to a vaccine. ... In the false consensus effect, parents are led to believe that the subject belief concerning the danger of vaccines is one which is widely held. This is mainly the result of being exposed to selective data through various elements of the media (Specter, 2009). In addition, most parents have no way of getting feedback from others about questions regarding this premise due to the unspoken rules regarding social interaction. For instance, if a parent suspects that his son or daughter is autistic because of the administrations of multiple vaccines, this view is not likely to be corrected by others or by doctors because it is unlikely that the parent will express it out loud. In recent years, the people who believe that vaccines cause autism have been influenced by the consistency with which the media reports on the subject of vaccines in relation to autism. It is also a fact that the parents who feel that vaccines are the actual cause of their children’s autism are more speak abou t it more often than those who do not believe this. Another reason why people might be persuaded about the accuracy of this inaccuracy is that it is the one issue over which they feel that they have control. Healthcare, in most nations, is the responsibility of government ministries; which many people distrust. Most citizens in nations around the world do not have a choice about the vaccines that their children get because governments have determined that the child’s rights to health are more important than the parent’s feelings about the matter. In some nations, children are vaccinated before being allowed to attend school while in others, parents are obligated to deliver the child to clinics for vaccinations. Many parents are irritated by the fact

Practicing Curiosity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Practicing Curiosity - Assignment Example In fact, he says that he successfully made his first public performance when he was only seven. This shows that he was always having the passion and desire to be a great musician (Eisen and Stanley 43). The other important thing which arouses my curiosity is Daniel’s musical style. As a pianist, he acknowledges his disapproval for the band wagon and instead, adopting and subscribing to his own school of thought. Instead of borrowing from his mentors, he opted to adopt his own peculiar style for playing his piano. He became so conventional and used to find his tempo from within his music particularly harmonic rhythm and harmony. by opting to act in such a manner, he was trying to prove to his colleagues of fans that music is a very dynamic field which does not necessarily need to be done in a similar manner. since each musician is free, they can choose their own style to adopt as they refine and make it better to appeal to their respective audience. Because of this, I would like to point out that I have really learnt a lot from this artist. Through his interview with Rose, I have known that music is a good and rewarding career if taken seriously. The interview has changed my attitude towards music. Unlike before, I now regard music as a very interesting and fulfilling career. However, for anyone to excel to the level of Daniel, they must have the required passion for it (Eisen and Stanley 27). Besides, they should be dedicated and committed to be novel and perfect in the playing of their various instruments. Lastly, it needs a high level of flexibility. Just like Daniel himself who participated in the orchestra, symphony and jazz, any artist should not be restricted to only one area. This is the only way through which they can build a reputation for