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The History of Table Tennis

Like many other sports,table tennis began as a mild social diversion.Descending,along with lawn tennis and badminton,from the ancient medieval game of tennis.It was popular in England in the second half of the nineteenth century under its present name and various trade names such as Gossima and Whiff-Whaff.After the name Ping-Pong (an imitation of the sound made by the ball striking the table and the vellum bats that were used) was introduced by J.Jaques & Son,the game became a fashionable craze.

The game was popular in Central Europe in 1905-10,and even before this is a modified version had been introduced to Japan ,where it later spread to China and Korea.After a period when it had dropped out of favor in Europe,the game was revived in England and Wales in the early twenties.by that time 'Ping-Pong' had been registered as a trademark,so the earlier name of table tennis was re-introduced.National associations were formed and standardization of the rules began,both in Europe and the Far East.Then,over the next sixty years,table tennis developed into a major worldwide sport,played by perhaps thirty million competitive players and by uncountable millions who play less seriously.However,the game itself has not changed in essence since its earliest days,though it is faster,more subtle and more demanding than it was even only twenty years ago.

Ping-pong Diplomacy

One of the first public hints of improved U.S.-China relations came on April 6,1971,when the American Ping-Pong team,in Japan for the 31st World Table Tennis Championship,received a surprise invitation from their Chinese colleagues for an all-expense paid visit to the People's Republic.Time magazine called it "The ping heard round the world." On April 10,nine players,four officials,and two spouses stepped across a bridge from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland,ushering in an era of "Ping-Pong diplomacy." They were the first group of Americans allowed into China since the Communist takeover in 1949.

In various ping-pong games,the most famous is the world championship competition,which was held once a year at the beginning,now,it is held twice a year ever since 1957.

In 1904,a shanghai shop keeper called Wang Dao WU,brought 10 sets of table tennis tools home,the game was therein introduced to china.

History of Swimming

The English are considered the first modern society to develop swimming as a sport.By 1837,regular swimming competitions were being held in London's six artificial pools,organized by the National Swimming Society in England.As the sport grew in popularity many more pools were built,and when a new governing body,the Amateur Swimming Association of Great Britain,was organized in 1880,it numbered more than 300 member clubs.

In 1896,swimming became an Olympic sport for men with the 100 metres and 1500 metres freestyle competitions held in open water.Soon after,as swimming gained popularity,more freestyle events were added,followed by the backstroke,breaststroke,butterfly and finally,the individual medley.

The first modern Olympic Games had only four swimming events,three of them freestyle.The second Olympics in Paris in 1900 included three unusual swimming events.One used an obstacle course; another was a test of underwater swimming endurance; the third was a 4,000-metre event,the longest competitive swimming event ever.None of the three was ever used in the Olympics again.

For a variety of reasons,women were excluded from swimming in the first several Olympic Games.In 1896 and again in 1906,women could not participate because the developer of the modern games,Baron Pierre de Coubertin,held firmly to the assumption,common in the Victorian era,that women were too frail to engage in competitive sports.It was only at the 1912 Games when women's swimming made its debut at the prompting of the group that later became known as the International Olympic Committee.

From the humble beginning with four swimming events,the Olympics have developed to 32 swimming races,16 for men and 16 for women.The Special Olympics,competitive swimming for people with disabilities,has 22 events for men and 22 for women.