The history of swimming

6 Minute English

语言学习

2021-08-05

6 分钟
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  • Hi, Neil from BBC Learning English here.

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  • 6 Minute English From BBCLearningEnglish.com Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBCLearningEnglish.

  • I'm Neil.

  • And I'm Georgina.

  • Can you swim, Georgina?

  • I can, Neil.

  • I learn to swim as a child, and now I enjoy swimming for exercise and to relax.

  • In the summer, hundreds of keen swimmers, like Georgina, head off to swimming pools, lakes and beaches to take a dip, and informal idiom meaning go for a swim.

  • Swimming has many health benefits, and since ancient times has been used to promote strength and well-being.

  • But swimming's not just about exercise, there's far more to it beneath the surface, as we'll be finding out in this program on the history of swimming.

  • Although evidence suggests that ancient Mediterranean people dived eagerly into temple pleasure pools, lakes and the sea, other cultures have swum against the tide.

  • Another swimming idiom there, Neil, meaning not to follow what everyone else is doing.

  • Someone who did enjoy swimming was the poet Lord Byron.

  • He wrote poems popularising the sport, and in 1810 swam the hell-espont, a stretch of water separating Europe from Asia.