TIL about the plunge for distance, a short-lived olympic swim event where competitors jumped from the edge of the pool and floated motionless as far as possible. It was criticized as “not an athletic event at all” since competitors “merely throw themselves heavily into the water and float along”.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plunge_for_distance

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  1. The plunge for distance is a diving event that enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 19th and early part of the 20th century, even being included as an official event in the 1904 Summer Olympics

    By the 1920s, it began to lose its popularity and slowly disappeared from U.S. and English swim competitions.

  4. TIL I could of been an olympian. Why did they deprieve me. My ability to merely throw myself heavily into water is surpassed by none and my floating exceeds non floaters around the world. Ripped off Juan Antonio.

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