{"id":471512,"date":"2021-05-04T10:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=471512"},"modified":"2021-05-04T10:50:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T17:50:04","slug":"swimming-world-presents-the-art-of-swimming-the-story-of-hero-and-leander-lord-byron-and-the-birth-of-open-water-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimming-world-presents-the-art-of-swimming-the-story-of-hero-and-leander-lord-byron-and-the-birth-of-open-water-swimming\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming World Presents – The Art of Swimming: The Story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the Birth of Open Water Swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest issue of Swimming World Magazine<\/em><\/span>
\nis now available for download in the<\/span> Swimming World Vault<\/span><\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Non-Subscribers Can Download This Issue Here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Art of Swimming:
\nThe Story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the Birth of Open Water Swimming<\/span><\/h3>\n

By Bruce Wigo
\n(with an assist from Ovid, Lord Byron and Christopher Marlowe)
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

On May 3, 1810, the romantic poet, Lord Byron (aka George Gordon) swam across the Dardanelles in imitation of the mythical Leander, who swam across the same water to be with his lover. Prior to Byron\u2019s swim, it was generally believed that Leander\u2019s swim was nothing but a myth\u2014for no European could possibly swim that distance. Most aquatic historians point to this date and Byron\u2019s feat as the birth of modern open water swimming.<\/p>\n

Lord Byron wasn\u2019t just a swimmer. He also was a celebrated poet, as popular in his day as Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan and Madonna are in our time. The New York Times has called him the original \u201cWild-and-Crazy\u201d guy. His attitude was the epitome of \u201cI don\u2019t care what you think…I don\u2019t play by your rules…I\u2019m rich and famous, and I can do what I like.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of his fame as a poet, Byron often claimed that his greatest achievement was his swim of about two miles in the open water. Imagine the popularity of swimming if the three mentioned celebrities of today were as interested and
\naccomplished in swimming as Byron!<\/p>\n

But enough about Lord Byron. This article is about the tale of unbridled passion that not only inspired his swim, but also the literature of Ovid, Gramaticus, Shakespheare, Marlowe\u2014as well as the exhibit in the International Swimming Hall of Fame that memorializes it.<\/p>\n

The Stage Is Set<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe stage for Leander\u2019s heroics was the narrow 40-mile-long strait that separates European Turkey and the Gallipoli Peninsula from Asiatic Turkey (see map above right). In ancient times, this strait was known as the Hellespont, and how it came to be so named is an interesting story in itself.<\/p>\n

According to the Homeric legend, Helle and her brother, Phrixus, had the wickedest of stepmothers. Despairing of the children\u2019s predicament, Neptune, the sea god, sent a winged, golden ram to their rescue. But while flying high over the sea, Helle looked down and panicked. She lost hold of her brother\u2019s tunic, tumbled off the ram\u2019s back and drowned in the sea below.<\/p>\n

When Phrixus reached safety, he sacrificed the ram and hung its Golden Fleece in an orchard, where it was later found by his cousin, Jason, and his band of Argonauts. The sea where Helle drowned was henceforth known as the Hellespont or Helle\u2019s sea. Today, this body of water is known as the Dardanelles.<\/p>\n

Back to Leander, the hero of our story:
\nHe lived on the Asiatic side of the strait in the prosperous trading port town of Abydos. He was an athletic and adventurous lad who, like many Greeks in his time, dreamed of making a name for himself as a warrior. As he approached his 21st year, he was thought to be not only the bravest youth in all of Greece, but also the handsomest. His mere presence made women melt…and if it had been his desire, he could have claimeda thousand hearts! But Leander cared little or such things.<\/p>\n

Across from Abydos, on the opposite side of the strait, was Sestos, known throughout the ancient world for its magnificent Temple of Venus and its annual \u201cFestival of Adonis.\u201d Venus was the Goddess of Love, Fertility and Chastity\u2014a virtue seemingly at odds with the festival since Adonis was her handsome and youthful lover. The festival was the ancient world\u2019s Tinder, Bumble or Grinder, attracting thousands of lonely hearts hoping to find a husband, wife or lover.<\/p>\n

Hero, our female protagonist, was one of the nuns who lived in the convent that cared for the Temple. She had served Venus since the age of 6\u2014it then being a custom for wealthy families to dedicate one child to the gods at this age. As a nun, she was expected to keep her holy vows of chastity, fidelity and service to her patroness for 15 years, after which time she could either remain a nun of the Temple, where she was treated with the greatest respect, or leave it and marry, if that were her pleasure.<\/p>\n

As Hero approached her 21st year, the fame of her loveliness had spread throughout the Greek world. It was said that Hero\u2019s sweet smell and her breath\u2019s scent made honey bees jealous! She was so lovely and fair, it was said, that nature wept at the mere thought of her losing her virginity. Many great princes traveled to Sestos with fantasies of returning home with Hero as their prize, but these dreams were quickly executed by Hero\u2019s scornful eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To read more about Hero’s charms, Triton, and Lord Byron’s poems,
\nClick here to download the full May 2021 issue of Swimming World Magazine, available now!<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

T\"Swimming<\/a>
\n[PHOTO CREDIT: ISHOF ARCHIVE]<\/p>\n


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<\/h1>\n

Swimming World May 2021 Issue<\/span><\/h1>\n

FEATURES<\/p>\n

014<\/span> WOMEN\u2019S NCAAs: A NEW NO. 1<\/strong>
\n<\/span>For the first time in the history of the NCAA Division I Women\u2019s Swimming and Diving Championships\u2014since 1982\u2014the University of Virginia finished first. It was also the first time it cracked the top 5 with its previous highest finish sixth in 2019.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • VIRGINIA\u2019S ROAD TO HISTORY<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • NC STATE ADDS TO ACC DOMINANCE<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • THE TALK OF THE MEET: MAGGIE MacNEIL<\/strong><\/span>
    \nby John Lohn<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    018 <\/span>MEN\u2019S NCAAs: THE PERFECT RETIREMENT GIFT<\/strong><\/span>
    \nDays before their coach, Eddie Reese, officially announced his retirement from coaching after 43 years, the Texas men\u2019s team won their 15th men\u2019s NCAA national team championship.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • THIS ONE\u2019S FOR EDDIE!<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • SCINTILLATING PERFORMANCES: SHAINE CASAS & RYAN HOFFER<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby John Lohn<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • PATIENCE REWARDED: MAX McHUGH & NICK ALBIERO<\/span><\/strong>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      022<\/span> NCAA D-II CHAMPS: SOME THINGS NEVER SEEM TO CHANGE<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Andy Ross<\/strong>
      \nA year into the pandemic that has completely changed our world, Queens University of Charlotte brought about some stability to the 2021 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships by sweeping their sixth straight women\u2019s and men\u2019s team titles.<\/p>\n

      023<\/span> NO LIMITS!<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby David Rieder<\/strong>
      \nClaire Curzan has been swimming fast since she was a young age grouper and has continued to do so in high school. Last March, she came within 13-hundredths of the American record in the short course 100 fly, and in April, she found herself within 22-hundredths of the long course U.S. best. She\u2019s versatile, she\u2019s coachable, she has international experience, and she\u2019s moved from a fringe Olympic contender to an Olympic favorite. Curzan is only 16, and her promising future couldn\u2019t be brighter.<\/p>\n

      026<\/span> TAKEOFF TO TOKYO: WHEN IRISH EYES WEREN\u2019T SMILING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby John Lohn<\/strong>
      \nIreland\u2019s Michelle Smith\u2014a four-time Olympic medalist in 1996 who received a four-year ban from the sport in 1998 for tampering with a doping sample\u2014has been defined as being a poster girl for cheating, and by her willingness to cut corners and take advantage of performance-enhancing drug use to make the leap from an athlete of very-good skill to one of elite status.<\/p>\n

      029<\/span> 50 SWIMMERS, 6 MEDALS<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Dan D\u2019Addona<\/strong>
      \nThe Tokyo Olympics will mark the fourth occasion that open water swimming will be contested on the Olympic level, and even a 10-kilometer marathon race can bring exciting moments and dramatic finishes.<\/p>\n

      030<\/span> JOSH MATHENY: RISING STAR<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Matthew De George<\/strong>
      \nFrom a middle-schooler newly committed to swimming full-time in 2016, the future looks encouraging for 18-year-old Josh Matheny, who approaches the U.S. Olympic Trials for Tokyo in June as a dark horse to make the team in men\u2019s breaststroke.<\/p>\n

      032<\/span> ISHOF: THE ART OF SWIMMING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Bruce Wigo<\/strong>
      \nThis is the story of Hero and Leander, Lord Byron and the birth of open water swimming.<\/p>\n

      035<\/span> NUTRITION: HYDRATION\u2014BEYOND THIRST!<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Dawn Weatherwax<\/strong>
      \nHydration truly has a daily importance for all kinds of swimmers from age groupers to Olympians to Masters swimmers, but it tends to get more notoriety when the weather gets warmer.<\/p>\n

      COACHING<\/p>\n

      012<\/span> THE POWER OF POSITIVE COACHING<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong>
      \nRelationships built upon honesty, trust and communication go a long way toward cementing a bond between coach and athlete. Coupling that with knowledge of the individual first and athlete second produces a positive working relationship that can last for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

      038<\/span> SWIMMING TECHNIQUE CONCEPTS: MAXIMIZING SWIMMING VELOCITY (Part 1)\u2014STROKE RATE vs. STROKE LENGTH<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Rod Havriluk<\/strong>
      \nSwimming velocity is the criterion measure for swimming performance and is the product of stroke length and stroke rate. This article explains how stroke length and stroke rate vary and how stroke time provides insight into maximizing swimming velocity.<\/p>\n

      042<\/span> Q&A WITH COACH STEVE HAUFLER<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong><\/p>\n

      044<\/span> HOW THEY TRAIN CHARLOTTE SHAMIA<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Michael J. Stott<\/strong><\/p>\n

      TRAINING<\/p>\n

      037<\/span> DRYSIDE TRAINING: THE IM DRYLAND CIRCUIT<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby J.R. Rosania<\/strong><\/p>\n

      JUNIOR SWIMMER<\/p>\n

      047<\/span> UP & COMERS: TEAGAN O\u2019DELL<\/strong><\/span>
      \nby Shoshanna Rutemiller<\/strong><\/p>\n

      COLUMNS<\/p>\n

      008<\/span> A VOICE FOR THE SPORT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      011<\/span> DID YOU KNOW: ABOUT THE MOREHOUSE TIGER SHARKS?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      046<\/span> THE OFFICIAL WORD<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      048<\/span> GUTTERTALK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n