Ready to entertain yourself with these informative swimming trivia questions and answers? Refresh your mind on amazing facts about swimming sports, important historical swimming events, famous international tournaments s, and down to swimming legends! Test yourself and see how much you know about swimming with this interesting collection of swimming trivia questions and answers.
1. Which year was the first Olympic Games to include a swimming category for women
Answer: The 1912 Games in Stockholm
2. The platforms from which swimmers dive in competitive swimming, what are they called?
Answer: Starting blocks
3. In which year did swimming in the Olympics first happens in a pool rather than in open water?
Answer: 1908
4. What are the 6 main types of swimming?
Answer: Squad, Diving, Water Polo, Disability, Open Water, and Synchronized.
5. Which stroke is considered to be the universal stroke, and is also the fastest?
Answer: Freestyle
6. When diving into the water in competitive swimming, the body should land in the water in what shape?
Answer: A straight line down
7. Which strokes require a “two-hand-touch” in competitive swimming?
Answer: Breaststroke and Butterfly.
8. What happens at a figure competition, if a swimmer makes a mistake?
Answer: A 2-point penalty is given and the figure is re-swum.
9. What is a simple swimming stroke, often the first taught to young children?
Answer: Dog Paddle
10. What is probably the most essential piece of equipment in synchronized swimming?
Answer: Nose Clip
11. Which swimming stroke is not a lifesaving stroke?
Answer: Sculling
12. Which former swimmer hosted a show called, ‘The U.S. Olympic Gold’?
Answer: Summer Sanders
13. What does ASA stand for?
Answer: Amateur Swimming Association
14. In the Olympic Games, what happens if a swimmer false starts by jumping the gun, which means diving in before the gun sounds?
Answer: The swimmer is disqualified.
15. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, she became the first American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympics. What is her name?
Answer: Amy van Dyken.
16. What turn is used when doing the backstroke or the freestyle?
Answer: The Flip Turn
17. What is the shortest length a swimmer can swim in an Olympic-style race?
Answer: 50 meters
18. The kick used when swimming backstroke is called?
Answer: Flutter kick
19. Is there a difference between short course pools and long course pools?
Answer: Yes, there is.
20. In an official swimming race, which official has the authority to disqualify a swimmer?
Answer: The referee
21. In breaststroke, what animal is the movement of the arms and the legs compared to?
Answer: A frog
22. The length of swimming pools is measured in two increments. What are the increments?
Answer: Meters and yards
23. Is swimming recognized as an event in the Winter Olympic Games?
Answer: No.
24. An important ingredient in a swimmer’s diet when they are at competitions is what?
Answer: Potassium
25. What country did the surprise quadruple gold medalist from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Amy van Dyken, swim for?
Answer: United States
26. He is considered to be the world’s greatest swimmer of all time, with the most Olympic gold medals, and 22 medals overall. He has also won the World Swimmer of the Year Award seven times, as well as the American Swimmer of the Year Award nine times. What is his name?
Answer: Michael Phelps.
27. What is the order of strokes in an individual medley?
Answer: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle
28. What is the name of the piece of equipment often used to assist in training when swimming arms only?
Answer: Pull Buoy.
29. Listed as one of the 10 most influential swimmers of all time, what is the name of the famous Australian swimmer who has won 11 world championship golds to his credit?
Answer: Ian Thorpe
30. What Olympic swimming events are women restricted from swimming in?
Answer: The 1500meters race
31. Which celebrity singer used to be a synchro swimmer?
Answer: Pink
32. What is the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool?
Answer: 50 meters
33. Who became the youngest competitive swimmer in the world when he qualified at age 10?
Answer: Alzain Tareq
34. How many players are there in a water polo team?
Answer: 7
35. What kick do synchronized swimmers use to stay on the water’s surface?
Answer: Eggbeater
36. Who was the first man to swim 2938km down the Mississippi River?
Answer: Fred Newton
37. In freestyle the common number of strokes before a breath is?
Answer: 3
38. What is the longest swimming distance for women in the Olympics?
Answer: 800m freestyle
39. What is the name of the woman who is considered the greatest female swimmer of all times?
Answer: Katie Ledecky
40. Fanny Durack won gold in Stockholm in 1912 in the 100 meters freestyle event, making her Australia’s first female Olympic champion. What made her win more remarkable?
Answer: She competed in a pool without lane ropes or starting blocks, her heavy costume was made of wool, and she swam at a time when men were forbidden as spectators.
41. What is the name of the Russian gymnast who was considered the first highest Olympic medal winner in swimming, 48 years before Phelps took the title?
Answer: Larissa Latynina
42. Who was the swimming legend Michael Phelps often compared to?
Answer: Mark Spitz
43. In 1988 he reached his first world record with apnoea and stayed for 5min 33sec under water. What is his name?
Answer: Umberto Pelizzari.
44. Which common type of food is also a swimming move taught in swimming lessons?
Answer: Mushroom
45. Which stroke is performed by putting two arms over the head at once?
Answer: Butterfly
46. Which events combine with swimming to form a triathlon?
Answer: Running and Cycling
47. At what age did the famed swimmer Mark Spitz first retire from swimming and at what age did he make his failed attempt at a comeback?
Answer: He retired at 22; Made a failed comeback at 41.
48. It’s okay to take caffeine while warming up for competitive swimming. True or False?
Answer: False.
49. Is the order of strokes in a medley relay and an individual relay the same thing?
Answer: No, they’re not.
50. What is the maximum age for a junior diver in the United States?
Answer: 18
51. How old was Michael Phelps when he became the youngest man to ever set a world record in swimming?
Answer: 15 years old
52. In the routine competition, the swimmers are prohibited from touching the bottom of the pool. If one swimmer does touch the bottom, what is the amount of penalty given?
Answer: 2 points penalty
53. How many swimmers take part in a standard relay race?
Answer: 4
54. Which kick is used when doing the butterfly stroke?
Answer: The Dolphin kick
55. FINA is the French agency that set the international rules for swimming. What does FINA stand for?
Answer: Federation Internationale de Natation
56. What color are the lane ropes in a FINA specified pool for the Olympic Games?
Answer: Green, blue and yellow
57. What does ‘tapering’ do to help a swimmer’s body?
Answer: It is a method used to give the swimmer’s body some rest by reducing exercise in the days just before an important competition.
58. The origin of synchronized swimming dates back to the Royal Life Saving Society’s aquatic demonstration in 1929. In which city was this demonstration held?
Answer: Montreal
59. Which country has most of the world’s swimming medalists?
Answer: USA
60. What part of a swimmer’s body is the most prone to sustaining an injury?
Answer: The rotator cuff in the shoulder
61. What is the essence of the “wedge” on starting blocks?
Answer: It enables the swimmer to push off quicker with the rear leg in order to increase their launch power.
62. What are the different swimming levels?
Answer: Amateur, Semi-professional, and Fully professional.
63. As of 1 January 2010, what is the restriction on men’s swimwear?
Answer: Men are only allowed to wear suits from the waist to the knees.
64. What is the most durable material for regular swimming?
Answer: Polyester
65. A plastic device that helps swimmers breathe while swimming is called?
Answer: A snorkel
66. They follow the swimmers during their across the pool and ensure that the rules related to the style of swimming designated for the event are being observed. Who are they?
Answer: Judges of stroke
67. How many swimming events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee?
Answer: 32.
68. Why is shaving important for a swimmer?
Answer: To reduce drag and to have a sleeker and more hydrodynamic feel in the water.
69. What is the name of the first man to swim the English Channel (between England and France), in 1875, a distance of 21.26 miles (34.21 km) in 21 hours and 45 minutes?
Answer: Captain Matthew Webb.
70. How many lanes are used in the full heat of swimming in a regulation Olympic-sized pool?
Answer: 8
71. What is the name of the dive done when in the water headfirst?
Answer: Surface Dive
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