Coach Janson
Look alive class! I’m Coach Janson. Today we will work on your swimming and freediving skills. Has anyone told you the basics so we can get you straight in the water? No? Typical, they want you to check all their boxes, but they won’t tell you how. So let’s get you up to speed.
Not in the mood for swim class?
SWIM RACES
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Are you curious what an Olympic swim race looks like?
Swimming is one of the oldest Olympic sports, and has been part of all modern Olympic Games since Athens 1896. The races are actually very similar to the races at Eden. There are four categories:
Freestyle

Backstroke (not freediving!)

Breaststroke
Butterfly
Freestyle races cover 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m.
50m races are short races and are therefore called sprints.
The butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke races each cover 100m and 200m.
And there are two more types of races:
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Relay

Medley
The relays are made up of the 4 x 100m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle and 4 x 100m medley relays complete the programme. Since Tokyo 2020, there’s also a mixed medley relay where men and women compete together.
All four strokes are used in the 200m and 400m individual medley events.
There’s also a swimming marathon, but that is considered a different category. And Olympic contestants can also compete in Diving and Synchronised Swimming and Water Polo.
So who are the real swim champs?


Currently, the United States is the most decorated nation with 257 gold medals overall after Tokyo 2020. The most decorated male Olympic swimmer of all time is USA’s Michael Phelps who, with 23 gold medals. His compatriot Katie Ledecky is the most decorated individual female Olympic swimmer ever, with seven gold medals.
Who can enter the Olympics?
Anyone can compete in the Olympics. There are no age restrictions. Contestants must compete for the country of their nationality. If they have dual nationality they can chose. But once they have competed for one country, they can’t switch and compete for another country. Each countries NOC (National Olympic Committee) is responsible for entering the athlete for the Games. It is also possible to volunteer at the Olympics. The recruitment of volunteers for the Olympic Games is under the responsibility of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG).
Aside from the Olympics there are also the World Aquatics Championships, known as the FINA world championships. These offer competitions in: Swimming, Diving, High Diving, Water Polo, Artistic Swimming, and Open Water Swimming. Most Olympic contestants compete in FINA first.
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Sources:
https://olympics.com/ioc/world-aquatics
https://olympics.com/en/sports/swimming/
https://olympics.com/en/news/how-to-qualify-for-swimming-at-paris-2024
https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/competing-and-being-part-of-the-games
Class Dismissed!
FREEDIVING
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Freediving is the activity of diving underwater without the use of breathing equipment, such as a scuba tank. Many consider it the most natural and free form of diving. The great thing about it is that you can do it at any time in any place.
You’re not slowed by a heavy scuba tank, you don’t need to look for a place that rents equipment and, like Naya, you can hear all the sounds of the ocean: the tide pulsing at the rocks, and even the calls of dolphins and whales!
Freediving is part of many sports and activities such as underwater rugby, underwater hockey, underwater target-shooting, spear-fishing (competitive), snorkelling, spear-fishing and underwater photography.
There’s also competitive freediving which includes categories such as:
Dynamic No-Fins
Freedivers swim horizontally, in a pool, for maximum distance on a single breath without fins, using only arm strokes and frog kicks. The current world records are 191m (626ft) for women and 244m (800ft) for men.
Static Apnea
Contestants stay on the surface of the pool and try to hold their breath for maximum time. The current record is over 9 minutes for women and over 11 minutes for men.
Free Immersion (FIM)
Freedivers try to reach a target depth, on a vertical line, pulling their way up and down, on a single breath, in the open water. The current world records are 98m (321ft) for women and 125m (410ft) for men.
Especially outside of the recreational sector, freediving is not without risk. It can lead to ear, sinus, and lung injuries, even blackouts or drowning. That is why it’s important to always have a diving partner and to do the right training.
For some people freediving is part of their profession, such as the ‘Ama’ divers in Japan who collect pearls and seafood, or the Hanyeo (women divers) in Korea who harvest see cucumbers and sea weed. Did you know that some of them are more than 80 years old? In Greece, sponge diving dates back to antiquity and is even mentioned in the Odyssey and Iliad
Note that freediving is also referred to as Apnea or Apnoea diving. Apnea comes from the Greek a pnea, no breath and means just that: the temporary cessation of breathing
Is it easy to learn freediving?
Freediving on a recreational level is practiced very frequently. Anyone who has held their breath underwater has freedived. But if you want to develop your technique, organisations such as PADI or AIDA offer courses.
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Sources: https://freedivenusa.com/
https://www.padi.com/education/freediving
https://www.aidainternational.org/Freediving
https://archives.cmas.org/apnoea/about-2012032621
https://www.greeka.com/dodecanese/kalymnos/history/sponge-diving-tradition/#:~:text=The history of sponge diving,writings of the philosopher Aristotle.
Class Dismissed!
WHICH SWIM TEAM WOULD YOU BE IN?
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The Ararat Heights authorities maintain that swim teams are chosen at random. That’s just a bunch of sea tangle, if you ask me. The authorities don’t leave stuff to chance. Or have you been sleeping in your ‘society improvement’ class? So take the test and find out which team you really belong to.
Class Dismissed!