Underwater Swimming
Underwater swimming is a common event in the backyard pool, and once it made it to the greatest international sporting stage. This event was only held once at the Olympics, in Paris 1900.
It is not surprising that it was never seen again on the Olympic program considering the lack of appeal for spectators. Maybe now with underwater cameras it could make a comeback. The event is held over a maximum of 60m, where competitors were awarded two points for each meter swum underwater, and one point for each second that they stayed under water.
Results
- Charles DeVandeville (France), who swam 60 meters in a time of 1 minute and 8.4 seconds (score: 188.4 pts).
- André Six (France) 185.4 pts (60 m, 1:05.4)
- Peter Lykkeberg (Denmark) 147.0 pts (28.5 m, 1:30.0)
Trivia
The third place getter Peter Lykkeberg actually swam for nearly 30 seconds longer than the winner, but did not travel as far as he went in a circle.
Related Pages
- Other Discontinued Swimming Events, including the Swimming Plunge for distance and Swimming Obstacle Race
- Breath Holding — How long can you hold your breath? An old test for assessing aerobic fitness.
- List of all Discontinued Events
- All about Swimming at the Olympic Games
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