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Swimming Trivia

Trivia, Odd Facts, and Interesting Tidbits of Information About Swimming

By Mat Luebbers, About.com

  • The Japanese won all the men's titles except the 400-meter freestyle in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Buster Crabbe won the 400-meter free. (USA Swimming)

  • Americans Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer registered the first official tie in Olympic history in the 100-meter freestyle at the 1984 Olympics. They each recorded a time of 55.92. (USA Swimming)

  • A blue whale's belly button is about 8 inches wide. (Animal Trivia)

  • In the 1948 Olympics, the U.S. won every event in the swimming competition. (USA Swimming)

  • Johnny Weissmuller, the first to swim 100 meters in less than a minute, was a hero in real life too? He saved the lives of 11 people when an excursion boat capsized on lake Michigan. He also played the role of a hero in reel life - 'Tarzan the Ape man' in the movie series based on Edgar Rice-Burrough's novel. (Indianinfo)

  • Tracy Caulkins is the only swimmer ever, man or woman, to own American records in every stroke. (USA Swimming)

  • Captain Matthew Webb of England was the first to swim the English Channel using the breaststroke. (Emazing)

  • Henry Sullivan, in 1923, was the first American to swim the English Channel. (Famous Firsts)

  • Gertrude Ederle was still a teenager when she became the first woman to swim the English Channel on August 6, 1926. Not only did she swim the channel, but she broke the speed record held by a man. (Dishout)

  • At the second modern Olympic Games contested in Paris in 1900, the most unusual event to be held was underwater swimming. It was decided prior to the competition that two points would be awarded for each metre swum underwater. In addition, one point was added to the scoring of each individual for every second he stayed below the surface. Much to the delight of the locals, Frenchman Charles de Venderville won the event swimming 60 metres and staying submerged for 1min 8.4sec. Denmark's Peder Lykkeberg stayed underwater for a longer period, one and a half minutes, but only managed to travel 28.5 metres. This was the first and only time underwater swimming was held at the Olympic Games. (ASI)

  • Lance Larson, in lane four, appeared (according to photographs) to touch first at the finish of the 1960 (Rome Olympics) 100-metre freestyle swimming event. Yet John Devitt, in lane three, was awarded the gold medal. (Indianinfo)

  • The first man to swim the English Channel without a life jacket was Captain Matthew Webb, who died trying to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls. (Dishout)

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