Fun Fact Friday: Part 2

Happy Friday, y'all! To break up your day I have some sweet swim trivia to share with you (because I love some useless information). Some of this is actually pretty cool. So here it is: 13 swim facts for today's fun fact Friday!

1

The first woman to swim the English Channel was Gertrude Ederle who did it in 1926—she was just 20. She did the swim in 14 hours and 39 minutes, faster than any man had completed it by almost two hours!

2

Know how the bikini got its name? It was named after a US nuclear testing site in the South Pacific called Bikini Atoll—weird!

3

A turbopump on the Space Shuttle main engine is powerful enough to drain an average-sized swimming pool in 25 seconds.

4

Swim fins were invented by Benjamin Franklin.

5

Swimming first became an Olympic event in 1896 but women weren’t allowed to participate until 1912.

6

According to Guinness World Records, the largest swimming pool in the world is San Alfonso del Mar Seawater pool in Algarrobo, Chile. It is 3,324 feet long and has an area of 19.77 acres. It was built in 2006.

7

President Ford had the outdoor swimming pool built at the White House in 1975. A year later, they added a pool house that was connected to an underground tunnel so that the First Family could get to the pool without having to go outside.

8

The first swimming races we have on record were held in Japan in 36 B.C.

9

The Titanic was the first ocean liner to have a swimming pool and a gym.

10

An hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories. It burns off more calories than biking or walking!

11

The slowest Olympic swim is the breaststroke. The fastest: freestyle.

12

The average person produces 25,000 quarts of saliva in his or her lifetime—that’s enough spit to fill two swimming pools!

13

Florida is the only state with legislation on who can teach swimming. Life guards and swimming teachers must, by law, be certified.