Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming - (Historical Dictionaries of Sports) by John Lohn (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming examines the sport of swimming since its inception as a competitive athletic event. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and appendixes that detail Olympic and World Championships medal winn...

Book Synopsis

The Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming examines the sport of swimming since its inception as a competitive athletic event. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and appendixes that detail Olympic and World Championships medal winners. The dictionary section has over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on individuals, major competitions, and there are also entries for each of the competitive strokes and countries that have enjoyed significant success in the sport.

Review Quotes

Scarecrow Press has initiated a new series, Historical Dictionaries of Sports. The first title in the series is Historical Dictionary of Competitive Swimming (next up are basketball and golf). Author Lohn comes with the necessary credentials: he is the senior writer for Swimming World Magazine. Competitive swimming is examined through an introductory essay, a chronology that begins in 1875 with Matthew Webb's swim across the English Channel and ends with the thirteenth world championships in 2009, and a chronology of the career of Michael Phelps. The main part of the volume, the dictionary, has 500 cross-referenced entries that cover individuals, competitions, the competitive swimming strokes, and various countries that have been competitive in the sport. Twenty-one appendixes cover topics such as world-championship winners and Olympic medalists. The resource ends with a 5-page topical bibliography. Libraries with large sports collections or where competitive swimming is important for their communities will want to add this resource.

The dictionary...has its merits in bringing all the factual information together in one place.


This inaugural volume in Scarecrow Press' sports reference series provides a glimpse of competitive swimming's rapid evolution. In his opening chronology, Lohn (coauthor, Swimmers: Courage and Triumph) locates his subject's genesis not in ancient Olympic Games, but in the 1875 English Channel crossing....Alphabetically organized, brief entries profile the people, organizations, championships, and locations defining competitive swimming. A series of appendixes detailing competitions, finalist names, and medals rounds out the book. A handy who's who for aquatic sports collections.

About the Author

John Lohn is the Senior Writer for Swimming World Magazine, having covered the sport at the national and international levels since 2000. He covered the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, chronicling the record-breaking eight-gold medal performance of Michael Phelps.