Study the words and word combinations for the topic

III. SWIMMING

Look through the scheme of the OlympicFINA aquatic events

The 50m Swimming Pool

Study the words and word combinations for the topic

3. Read and translate the text:

SWIMMING

Swimming is the way of propulsion in the water by using arms, legs and body. Proper strokes and kicks, breathing technique and body position may help swimmers to improve their performance. Swimming is a popular form of recreation, an important sport and health-enhancing exercise as it facilitates all body systems. Millions of people enjoy swimmingthroughout the world.

Swimming was a form of exercise in many ancient lands, including Egypt, Greece and Rome. But organized swimming competitions became common during the mid-1800s.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) was created in 1908. Men’s international competitions began in 1896 in the first modern Olympic Games. Women’s competition was added in the 1912 Olympics.

FINA organizes competitions and registers records in five aquatic sports including swimming,platform and springboard diving, artistic swimming, water polo and open water.

The competitive swimming strokes are the front crawl, the backstroke, the breaststroke and the butterfly. The sidestroke is the basic applied stroke. Swimmers use the flutter kick in the front crawl and the backstroke, the breaststroke kick in the breaststroke, the dolphin kick in the butterfly and the scissors kick in the sidestroke.

Swimmers participate in five kinds of races – freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and individual medley. In a freestyle race, a swimmer may choose any stroke, but usually they use the front crawl because it is the fastest stroke. In the medley athletes swim an equal distance of each stroke.

In competitions, individual freestyle races are held at distances of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1500m. Breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly events are 100 and 200 metres long. The individual medley covers 200m and 400m.

Team relays are among the most interesting swimming races. A team consists of four swimmers, and each of them swims an equal distance. Men’s and women’s teams take part in a 400m freestyle relay, a 400m medley and an 800m freestyle relay.

Open water races are held over 10km. They are usually held at the seaside.

There are several types of pools for swimming and diving. Swimming pools may be 50 metres long (the long course) and 25 metres long (the short course). They may be indoor or outdoor, competitive or recreational, private or public. They are normally filled with fresh water.

Swimming competitions are held at various levels, from local to international. Large competitions have several officials such as style and turn judges. Each swimmer in a race is assigned a lane, which is timed by electronics and line judges. The chief official is the referee. The swimmers with the fastest qualifying times get the centre lanes and the slowest swimmers receive the outside lanes.

Michael Phelps is considered the greatest swimmer of all time. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he won six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the American swimmer managed to win eight gold medals having set seven world records. At the 2012 London Olympic Games, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver.

Soviet swimmers made their Olympic debut in 1952 in Helsinki but it was not successful. Later several Belarusian swimmers have become the Olympic medallists. Sergei Koplyakov won two gold and two silver medals at the Olympic Games in Montreal and Moscow. Elvira Vasilkova was a silver medallist in 100m breaststroke and got the bronze medal with Olga Klevakina in medley relay in at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Yelena Rudkovskaya won the gold medal in 100m breaststroke and the bronze medal in medley relay in 1992 in Barcelona. At the 2012 London Olympic Games,Alexandra Gerasimenya won 2 silver medals and set 2 national records for the 50m and 100m swimming races.She added to her collection one bronze medal for 50m freestyle in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, IharBoki won six gold medals and one bronze.

4. Answer the questions and prepare for the discussion on the topic: