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

By , About.com Guide

  • The turbo pump on the Space Shuttle main engine is so powerful it could drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds. (Dishout)

  • In 1984, Greg Louganis became the first male diver in 56 years to win both the springboard and platform events. (Indianinfo)

  • Right now as you sit reading this, more than 100,000,000 micro creatures are swimming, feeding, reproducing, and depositing waste inside that area behind your lips. (Dishout)

  • Diana Nyad, in 1979, was the first person to swim from the Bahamas to Florida. (Famous Firsts)

  • The Olympic Flag with the five rings, which was first unveiled at Antwerp in 1920, was finally retired after the 1984 Games at Los Angeles. A new flag was flown to the 1988 Seoul Games. At the closing ceremony of the Games, the mayor of the current host city presents the flag to the mayor of the next host city. (Indianinfo)

  • The Olympic flag was presented by Baron de Coubertin at the 1914 Olympic Congress to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the International Olympic Committee. The flag made its debut at the 1920 Antwerp Games. (Indianinfo)

  • Esther Williams did not win any Olympic medals for swimming or for diving. The year she was to compete (1940) the Olympics were suspended due to WWII. (Dishout)

  • Elephants are capable of swimming twenty miles a day, using their trunks as natural snorkles. (Snickers)

  • Tuna swim at a steady speed of nine mph and they never stop. That means a 15-year-old tuna may have traveled 1,000,000 miles. (Issac Asimov's Book of Facts)

  • Kangaroos are great swimmers. (Kangaroo Facts)

  • Benjamin Franklin invented swim-fins. (Strange Facts and Useless Information)

  • "Citius, altius, fortius" is a Latin phrase meaning "swifter, higher, stronger", which Baron de Coubertin borrowed from Father Henri Martin Dideon, who used the phrase to describe the athletic achievements of his students". (Indianinfo)

  • Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser startled the Japanese at Tokyo when she climbed the flagpole at the emperor's palace to take the flag as a souvenir! She paid a heavy price for this misdemeanor as she was banned for 10 years. The ban was later reduced to four years. (Indianinfo)

  • The five rings in the Olympic flag symbolize the five inhabited continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and America. It is believed the colours were chosen because at least one of them can be found in the flag of every nation. (Indianinfo)

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