The history of competitive swimming
The history of competitive swimming is both rich and fascinating, evolving significantly since its early days. The https://www.1xbet.ng/en website is always available for placing wagers on the best performers of this discipline too. It all kicked off in the early 1800s when the National Swimming Society in Britain began hosting competitions in man-made indoor pools in London. By the 1880s, the Amateur Swimming Association was founded following the sport's growing popularity in England. Initially, swimmers only used the side stroke and breaststroke until John Trudgen introduced the front crawl in 1873, revolutionizing the sport with its increased speed. At the 1xBet platform all bettors can place their wagers on the best swimmers from all across the world too.
Becoming an Olympic discipline
The Olympics soon caught the swimming wave, with the 1896 Athens games featuring 100m, 500m, and 1200m freestyle races. Hungary’s Alfred Hajos grabbed the first Olympic swimming gold in the 100m and 1200m races. It is great to watch any 1xBet match live, where punters can also see who are the swimmers claiming gold medals and other rewards too. At the same time, an Austrian and a Greek sailor took the 500m and 100m for sailors, respectively. Paris, in 1900, amped up the challenge with a 4000m freestyle, the longest Olympic swimming event ever, and introduced backstroke into the mix. There is the chance to watch any match live at 1xBet, and this includes swimming events too.
The discipline goes mainstream
By 1904, the Olympic Games in St. Louis expanded the range of swimming events, specifying freestyle or breaststroke categories for the first time. The world's first swimming association, FINA, was established in 1908. In 1912, women made a splash at the Stockholm Olympics, participating for the first time in 100m freestyle and relay events. Don’t forget to make profitable virtual sports bets on 1xbet.ng/en/virtualsports, and here you can also win great rewards too. Some extraordinary names that have become legends in this discipline include: Johnny Weissmuller; Mark Spitz; and Michael Phelps. Fast-forward to 1922, and Johnny Weissmuller became a swimming sensation, being the first to swim 100m in under a minute. His record stood for 17 years, and his influence, along with that of Mark Spitz in 1972, who bagged seven gold medals at the Munich Olympics. Then, of course, came Michael Phelps, with his staggering 16 Olympic medals, including 6 gold and 2 bronze in Athens 2004, and a phenomenal eight gold in Beijing 2008. Make some profitable sports bets on the 1xBet virtual platform and win with swimming competitions too.