U.S. Olympic Swim Team
Imagine what it would be like to swim with U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps and his team mates. Well kids from the Atlanta Public Schools got a chance to do just that…swim with Michael Phelps, Lenny Krayzelburg, and Ian Crocker at the Martin Luther King natatorium. The three Olympic medalists and Mickey Mouse made a stop in Atlanta as a part of “Disney’s Swim with the Stars,” a 12-city nationwide tour promoting the sport of swimming among America’s swimming stars of tomorrow. The tour is trio’s first public appearance in the United States since returning from the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
Did you know that swimming has been on the Olympic Games programme since the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896? The swimming programme consists of 26 individual and six team relay men’s and women’s events in a 50 m pool. The individual events include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and individual medly style. The team events are the freestyle and medley relay.
Ancient Olympic Games were held every four years and without interruption for nearly 12 centuries and drew tens of thousands of people from Greek colonies along the length of the Mediterranean and the shores of the Black Sea when Greek culture and influence were at their height. The ancient games were a religious celebration in honor of the Greek gods.
For more information on the ancient and modern Olympic Games consider visiting the following websites:
- Atlanta Public Schools
- www.usaswimming.org
- [http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp]
- www.pbs.org/previews/realolympics
