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Swimming  has been known since prehistoric times. In 1538, Nikolaus Wynmann, a German professor of languages, wrote the first swimming book, The Swimmer; or, A Dialogue on the Art of Swimming (Der Schwimmer oder ein Zwiegespräch über die Schwimmkunst). Competitive swimming in Europe started around 1800, mostly using breaststroke. In 1873 John Arthur Trudgen introduced the trudgen to Wester swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native Americans. In 1902 Richard Cavill introduced the front crawl to the Western world. In 1908, the world swimming association, Federation Internationale de Natation de Amateur (FINA), was formed.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_swimming