In the first four Olympics, competitions were not held in pools, but, rather, in open water (1896- the Mediterranean Sea, 1900- the Seine river, 1904- an artificial lake, 1906- the Mediterranean Sea). The 1904 Olympics freestyle race was the only one ever measured at 100 yards, instead of the usual 100 metres. A 100 metre pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and sat in the centre of the main stadium's track and field oval. The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbour, marked the beginning of electronic timing.
Male swimmers wore full body suits up until the 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern swimwear counterparts. Also, over the years, some design considerations have reduced swimming resistance making the pool faster - namely proper pool depth, elimination of currents, increased lane width, energy-absorbing racing lane lines and gutters, and the use of other innovative hydraulic, acoustic and illumination designs.
The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 metre pool with marked lanes. In the freestyle, swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were eventually incorporated at the 1936 Olympics. The tumble turn ("flip-turn") was developed by the 1950s. The Trudgen, introduced in England in the 1880s, has been completely supplanted by the front crawl, also known as the Australian crawl. Lane design cut down turbulence in water in the early 1970s.
Young swimmers (typically 8 years old and younger) may swim a 25 yard or 25 metre freestyle event. These shorter events are usually for swimmers who are slower than similarly aged swimmers or may have difficulty swimming longer distances.
Freestyle is also part of the medley over the following distances:
In the long distance races of 800 m and 1500 m, some meets hosted by FINA (including the Olympics) only have the 800 m distance for women and the 1500 m distance for men. However, FINA does keep records in the 1500 metre distance for women and the 800 metre distance for men, and the FINA World Championships, as well as many other meets, have both distances for both genders.
da:Fri svømning de:Freistilschwimmen et:Vabaujumine fr:Nage libre ko:자유형 (수영) is:Skriðsund he:שחייה תחרותית#חופשי nl:Vrije slag ja:自由形 pl:Styl dowolny ru:Плавание вольным стилем fi:Vapaauinti sv:Frisim tr:Serbest stil yüzme zh:自由泳
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