What do we know about swimming throughout history? Who were some notable figures who swam?
I know Charlemagne was known to swim laps in his pool, which is really cool because Europeans forgot how to swim at some point.
>>1082206
About the only thing I can remember off the top of my head is that in a discussion in the Gemara of the things a father needs to do for his son in order to be a proper parent, there's a split among the Rabbis whether or not teaching him to swim should be counted as minimum acceptable practice.
>>1082206
The British Imperial navy would only accept recruits who could not swim, because those would defend the ships for longer.
In the Netherlands you learn to swim at school.
>>1082206
Vaugely related. There was a Roman emperor (cant remember which) who sent a slave to the baths everyday to round up people with gross hernias.
Then he would line them all up so the could get a good look at them.
Then give guy or gal with the biggest/grossest/weirdest hernia a prize.
Life was hard for weirdos before image boards.
In Ghent you learn to swim at school.
>>1082285
the british imperial navy also kidnapped people and forced them into labour at sea. great HR practices
>>1082336
All the navies did that. Merchants and pirates also.
There is a moment int he fictional book of XIX century Zalacain The Adventurer which I love.
>main character gets kidnapped into slavist ship
>crew whines to the captain about the black slaves receiving better treatment than the crew.
>captain answers "Of course, you dumbasses. Every nigger cost me twenty pesetas, and I get you for free in any port!"
>>1082336
E T E R N A L
T
E
R
N
A
L
>>1082365
No. It was not in Zalacain The Adventurer. It was in The Adventures of Xanti Andia.
Pio Baroja sure liked adventurers.
>>1082206
In the norse sagas to be a hero its pretty much a requirement you be a great swimmer. In frigid Baltic/Icelandic water no less.
>>1082336
Man, I was just kidding. The joke is ancient.
>>1082206
Chairman Mao swam over the Yangze a lot while his country was starving to death
>>1082490
He also went swimming during a visit by Khrushchev, who could not swim. Khrushchev had to be given armbands. This was one of the defining factors in the Sino-Soviet split.
did everyone swim breaststroke back in the day? forward crawl was only created recently, no?
was swimming an olympic sport for the greeks?
>>1082365
Why does Hollywood never show us that the crew usually endured worse condition than the Atlantic slaves?
I'd like a "centrist" or "leftist" to answer this, as I already know what the others will say.
