*Sports and recreational

activities that take place in or

on water.
*Swimming crops up in many ancient tales of heroism and religion and
was clearly enjoyed for recreation by the middle ages, if not before.
Snorkeling, you may be surprised to hear, is one of the oldest water
sports on record. Snorkeling is mentioned as a recreational activity
enjoyed by Romans in the 1st Century AD. They used hollow reeds to
craft these ancient snorkels. Later, the famous artist and inventor
Leonardo da Vinci created a more modern snorkel that was a little one
used today more like the around the world.

*
*In the 19th Century many different water sports originated around the
world. In Hawaii, surfing was invented and in the UK, diving became
competitive sport and water polo was first played. This was also the
century of the first Western long-distance kayak trips and the advent of
camping adventure which went hand in hand with many outward bound
water sports and water based activities.

*
*In the 20th Century, water sports as recreation really took off as people
had more leisure time and more disposable income around the middle
of the century. Surfing, for example, which had been a pursuit for
people in Hawaii and on the Californian coast from the 1920’s onward,
became a youth craze around the world in the 1960’s. That was just the
beginning and now there is a proliferation of related water sports that
hold wide appeal to a variety of different people.

*
WATER POLO
*Sport played in a pool with two teams of seven opposing
players who attempt to score points at the opposite goal
using a ball. Water polo is a competitive team sport played in
the water between two teams. The game consists of four
quarters in which the two teams attempt to score goals by
throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal.
DIVING
*Sport consisting of executing simple to complex dives into
the water from a platform or a springboard.
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from
a platform or springboard, usually while
performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally
recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In
addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a
recreational pastime.
SWIMMING
*Sport consisting of swimming a defined distance
(which varies depending on the four recognized stroke
categories) as quickly as possible.
SWIMMING
The butterfly (colloquially shortened to fly) is a swimming
stroke swum on the chest, with both arms moving
symmetrically, accompanied by the butterfly kick (also
known as the "dolphin kick").
SWIMMING
Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer
is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the
most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's
head being out of the water a large portion of the time,
and that it can be swum comfortably at slow speeds
SWIMMING
The front crawl or forward crawl, also known as
the Australian crawl or American crawl, is
a swimming stroke usually regarded as the fastest of the
four front primary strokes. As such, the front crawl
stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle
swimming competition, and hence freestyle is
used metonymically for the front crawl.
ROWING & SCULLING
*Sport consisting of a speed race in a straight line over a
maximum distance of 2000 m; races take place on calm
water in boats designed for the purpose
Two-oared sculling is a form of rowing in which a boat is
propelled by one or more rowers, each of whom operates
two oars, one held in the fingers and upper palm of each
hand.
canoe-kayak: flatwater racing
*Sport consisting of a speed race in a
straight line; races take place on calm
water in canoes or kayaks with one or
more places.
WATER SKIING
*Sport in which the skier is towed by a motorboat and glides on the
surface of the water on one or two skis; there are a number of
disciplines, including jumping, slalom and figures. Water skiing is a
surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a
cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on
two skis or one ski
SCUBA DIVING
*Sport consisting of descending
underwater and swimming around; it
can be done holding one’s breath or
with scuba gear.
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater
diving where the diver uses a self-
contained underwater breathing
apparatus (scuba), which is
completely independent of surface
supply, to breathe underwater
 SURFING
*Sport consisting of riding the side of a
breaking wave on a surfboard. Surfing is
a surface water sport in which the wave
rider, referred to as a surfer, rides on the
forward or deep face of a moving wave,
which usually carries the surfer towards
the shore.
FINA or Fédération internationale de natation (English: International
Swimming Federation) is the international federation recognised by
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering
international competition in water sports. It is one of several
international federations which administer a given sport or discipline
for the IOC and international community. It is based in Lausanne,
Switzerland. 2017: 209