Posts Tagged public swimming pools
A Brief History of Swimming Pools
Swimming is, by far, one of the most popular pastimes in the world. It is also one of the oldest. As an organized activity, swimming dates back to around 2500 BC. Swimming was immensely popular in ancient Egypt, and there are a number of relics from the period which depict the act of swimming in vivid and awe-inspiring detail. In ancient Greece and Rome, swimming was taught to boys as part of their elementary school curriculum. Furthermore, the first known public swimming pools were built in Rome.
Under the direction of a wealthy Roman lord named Gaius Maecenas, the first heated swimming pool was also built for public use. Plato, himself, once declared that anyone who could not swim lacked a proper education. Who dares to argue with him? Aside from the Greeks and Romans, many other ancient cultures have left evidence of their love for swimming; among them the Babylonians, Assyrians, and Phoenicians. There is also evidence of competitive swimming in Japan over 2000 years ago.
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