1. Read and translate the texts. Text 7

Would you believe that in the first modern Olympics, in 1896, the 1,200-meter

freestyle race took place in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea? The swimmers

were left in the water by a boat, and the first one to swim back to the shore won the

race!

Well, swimming events at the Olympics have come a long way since then. For

one thing, they now take place in a swimming pool. Men and women compete in a

total of 16 events, using 4 different swimming strokes and swimming between 1

and 30 laps. The four strokes are freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly.

In some events, called "medleys", swimmers must use all the strokes in one race.

No more than eight swimmers compete in one race. Winners are determined

based on time. The swimmer that finishes the race in the shortest time wins. So that

they can glide better, and move faster, swimmers often shave off all the hair on

their body!

Synchronized Swimming

If a ballet could take place in the water, it would look like Synchronized

Swimming. Just like ballet, there is music, and there is dancing ... well, sort of.

Synchronized Swimming is a competitive team sport for women only. The

goal of the sport is to move in the water to music. All the swimmers need to be

perfectly in time with each other, and they make patterns with their legs and arms

as they move. There are two events, a technical and a free routine. In the technical

routine, swimmers need to do certain moves in a set order. In the free routine,

swimmers can do moves in any order, to any music.

Synchronized swimmers need to be very strong, flexible, and graceful. They

also need to be able to hold their breath for a really long time. Some of their moves

are upside-down under water! To make their experience in the water a little easier,

they wear nose clips, which stop water from going up their noses.

Teams win points on a scale from 1 to 10 based on difficulty, original

movement, or choreography, or for a perfect routine

Diving

In the diving event, athletes jump off a diving board and land in a swimming

pool. These athletes are called divers, and they dive from two different boards. The

high board is called the "platform", and the low board is called the "springboard".

When the divers are in the air, they turn, tumble, and twist. These moves have

names like somersaults, pikes, tucks, and twists.

Divers can be awarded up to 10 points for each dive. Points are awarded based

on their difficulty; the number of moves the divers try to make; and the ways the

divers jump off the board, perform their dive, and enter the water. For a perfect

dive, they must enter the water without making any splash at all.

Synchronized diving has been introduced at the Olympics. This means that two

divers will dive at the same time.

Water Polo

Water polo is a team sport that seems a lot like American soccer but is actually

played in a swimming pool. What's funny is that even though it seems like soccer,

this game is actually based on rugby!

Athletes play in a swimming pool, and there are goal nets at both ends of the

pool. The teams pass a ball up and down the pool trying to throw it into the nets to

score a goal. The ball is about the same size as a soccer ball. Like soccer, the team

with the most goals wins.

Water Polo is a challenging game. The athletes are not allowed to touch the

bottom or the side of the pool at all! They have to tread water or swim the entire

time. The game is broken down into four periods, and each period is seven minutes

long.

Women's Water Polo has been added to the Olympics for the very first time.

Ex.2. Answer the following questions:

1. Why do so many people go in for underwater swimming or skin-diving?

2. I’m non-swimmer. Is it very difficult to learn to swim just a little? What should

I start with?

3. Have you heard anything about the long-distance swimmers, who try to cross

the English Channel? Are they often a success?

4. What attracts people to high-diving? What qualities must a sportsman possess

to make, say a somersault from a 10-metre high-board?

5. What kind of swimming do you prefer? Tell, why do you prefer this very

kind?