Sports

People have swum across lakes and rivers since prehistoric times, but the first organised races did not take place until the 19th century, when the National Swimming Society of Great Britain was created.

None of the four Aquatics disciplines – Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and Water Polo – has been around for longer than 200 years as a competitive sport.

There were still no official rules or standards when Aquatics featured in the programme for the first modern Olympic Games in Athens 1896, Paris 1900 and St Louis 1904.

The Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA) was formed during the London 1908 Olympic Games competition to act as a governing body for the sport.

Waterpolo is a team water sport. A team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals.

Gameplay involves swimming, players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a net defended by a goalie.

As such, waterpolo has similarities to association soccer and netball.

Beach waterpolo provides more chalennge as it will be done under beach current and wind.

Diving is closely linked to Gymnastics. Competitors jump head-first into a pool from a three-metre springboard or a 10-metre solid platform.

They perform a series of twists and somersaults before they hit the water.

The aim is to win as many points as possible from a panel of judges who assess each dive for difficulty and style of execution.
 
As well as individual competitions, there are also Synchronised Diving events, in which pairs of athletes dive in tandem and receive an additional mark for their level of ‘synchronisation’.

List of events

• men

  1. SYNCHRONIZED 3M SPRINGBOARD

  2. SYNCHRONIZED 10M PLATFORM

  3. 3M SPRINGBOARD

  4. 10M PLATFORM

  5. 1M SPRINGBOARD

• women

  1. 1M SPRINGBOARD

  2. 3M SPRINGBOARD

  3. 10M PLATFORM

  4. SYNCHRONIZED 3M SPRINGBOARD

  5. SYNCHRONIZED 10M PLATFORM

  6. SYNCHRONIZED 5M PLATFORM

• boys

  1. 10M PLATFORM

  2. 3M SPRINGBOARD

• girls

  1. 10M PLATFORM

  2. 3M SPRINGBOARD

Marathon Swimming is long distance swimming across large bodies of water such as the Great Lakes, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

Marathon swimming is an endurance sport that pits a swimmer not only against other contenders in the race but also against the currents and tides of the water.

According to International Swimming Federation rules, swimmers cannot use wet suits as this can artificially increase speed or endurance.

Swimmers are accompanied by a nearby boat crew that monitors and advises the competitors.

Marathon swimming has been popularized since Matthew Webb made the first successful crossing of the English Channel in 1875.

Marathon Swimming was incorporated into the Asian Beach Games in 2008.

List of events

• men

  1. 10KM

  2. 5KM

• women

  1. 5KM

  2. 10KM

Swimming is a competitive sport, divided into two categories: the 50m swimming pool for official competitions and the 25m swimming pool reserved for international competitions at short distance, which is an obligatory event to be competed at the AIG.

List of events

• men

  1. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X50M

  2. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  3. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  4. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 100M

  5. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X50M

  6. FREESTYLE, 50M

  7. FREESTYLE, 200M

  8. FREESTYLE, 100M

  9. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  10. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  11. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  12. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  13. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  14. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  15. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

• women

  1. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  2. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  3. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  4. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  5. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  6. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  7. FREESTYLE, 100M

  8. FREESTYLE, 200M

  9. FREESTYLE, 50M

  10. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

  11. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X50M

  12. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 100M

  13. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  14. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  15. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X50M

Traditional Swimming races take place over distances ranging from 50m to 1500m. Unless it is a Freestyle event, competitors have to use a particular swimming stroke: Breaststroke, Butterfly or Backstroke.

There are also Medley events which combine all three strokes. Olympic races take place in a 50m long pool divided into 10 lanes, with only the middle eight lanes used by swimmers. The swimmer who touches the pool wall first at the end of the race is the winner.

A 10km Open Water race has been added to the Swimming programme for the Beijing 2008 Games. Open Water races are swum outside in areas such as the sea, a lake or a river, and competitors usually swim 2.5km circuits around buoys positioned in the water.

List of events

• men

  1. FREESTYLE, 100M

  2. FREESTYLE, 200M

  3. FREESTYLE, 400M

  4. FREESTYLE, 1500M

  5. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  6. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  7. BACKSTROKE, 200M

  8. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  9. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  10. BREASTSTROKE, 200M

  11. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  12. BUTTERFLY, 200M

  13. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  14. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 400M

  15. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X200M

  16. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  17. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  18. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 100M

  19. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X50M

  20. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

  21. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X50M

  22. FREESTYLE, 800M

  23. FREESTYLE, 50M

• women

  1. FREESTYLE, 50M

  2. FREESTYLE, 100M

  3. FREESTYLE, 200M

  4. FREESTYLE, 400M

  5. FREESTYLE, 800M

  6. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  7. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  8. BACKSTROKE, 200M

  9. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  10. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  11. BREASTSTROKE, 200M

  12. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  13. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  14. BUTTERFLY, 200M

  15. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  16. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 400M

  17. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

  18. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X200M

  19. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  20. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 100M

  21. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X50M

  22. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X50M

  23. FREESTYLE, 1500M

• boys

  1. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  2. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  3. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  4. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

  5. FREESTYLE, 400M

  6. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  7. FREESTYLE, 200M

  8. BUTTERFLY, 200M

  9. BREASTSTROKE, 200M

  10. BACKSTROKE, 200M

  11. FREESTYLE, 100M

  12. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  13. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  14. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  15. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  16. FREESTYLE, 50M

• girls

  1. BACKSTROKE, 100M

  2. BREASTSTROKE, 100M

  3. BUTTERFLY, 100M

  4. FREESTYLE, 100M

  5. BACKSTROKE, 200M

  6. BREASTSTROKE, 200M

  7. BUTTERFLY, 200M

  8. FREESTYLE, 200M

  9. INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY, 200M

  10. FREESTYLE, 400M

  11. FREESTYLE RELAY, 4X100M

  12. MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

  13. BACKSTROKE, 50M

  14. BREASTSTROKE, 50M

  15. BUTTERFLY, 50M

  16. FREESTYLE, 50M

• mixed

  1. MIXED MEDLEY RELAY, 4X100M

Synchronised Swimming is for women only. It is sometimes called ‘water ballet’, as competitors perform short routines to music in the pool. Routines are judged on technical merit and artistic impression.
 
There are two events: Duet (for pairs) and Team (for groups of eight). In each, the winner is the one who gets the most points from the judges based on how well they perform the moves, and how well the routine is put together.

List of events

• women

  1. TEAM

  2. DUET

  3. FREE COMBINATION

  4. SOLO

Water polo is a team water game. A team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals.

Water polo was developed in Europe and the United States as two separate sports. In the United States it was termed softball water polo, with the ball being an unfilled bladder.

The sport was very rough, often degenerating into numerous fights. In 1897, Harold Reeder of New York formulated the first American rules for the discipline, which were aimed at decreasing the excessive roughness of the game.

The game is called water polo because players initially rode on floating barrels that resembled mock horses, and swung at the ball with mallet-like sticks, similar to those used in equestrian polo.

Ultimately, the European style of water polo predominated and today it is the form of the game practised universally.

It is more scientific, faster and less dangerous than the original American game. The current game consists of seven-man teams playing four seven-minute periods.

List of events

• men

  1. TEAM

• women

  1. TEAM

• mixed

  1. TEAM