Swimming

Humans have been fascinated with mermaids since antiquity, writes columnist Jackie Mansky. The 1914 silent film Neptune's Daughter, featuring champion swimmer and actress Annette Kellerman (above), captured the public imagination.

The Return of Mermaidcore

For a century, a collective love of tails and fins has helped women transgress on land and sea

One of the marble capitals found by swimmer Gideon Harris

Cool Finds

Swimmer Stumbles Upon 1,800-Year-Old Marble Columns From Shipwreck Off Israel’s Coast

The artifacts help settle an unanswered question about ancient architectural materials

Paris is working on an ambitious project to clean the Seine river for use during swimming events in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

For the First Time in a Century, Paris Is Making the Seine Swimmable

The city's ambitious project will allow Olympians, and later the French public, to return to the famous river's waters

Natovenator likely swam to catch small prey.

World’s First Swimming Dinosaur Discovered in Mongolia

Natovenator was a streamlined hunter with jaws full of tiny teeth

Shark skin is made of tiny, stiff segments of overlapping, textured dentin and enamel. Shark skin’s distinctive texture gives sharks greater efficiency moving through the water.

Shark Skin-Inspired Materials Have a Long Way to Go Before They Work Like the Real Thing

The predator's distinctive texture is the envy of engineers trying to maximize hydrodynamics

The so-called frogmen swam into enemy beaches unarmed, wearing only swim trunks, dive masks and fins.

Untold Stories of American History

The Stealth Swimmers Whose WWII Scouting Laid the Groundwork for the Navy SEALs

The Underwater Demolition Teams cleared coastal defenses and surveyed enemy beaches ahead of Allied landings

Qikiqtania wakei (top) was more suited to swimming than its larger cousin Tiktaalik (bottom).

After Fish Developed Limbs, Some Might Have Returned to Swimming

Scientists think a recently discovered fossil is evidence that evolution is more like a branching tree than a ladder

Fred Newton promotes his record-breaking journey.

The Man Who Swam the Full Length of the Mississippi River

How Fred Newton found himself neck-deep in history

Water runs from a hose into a hay bale pool.

Seven Ideas for Do-It-Yourself Backyard Pools

Build a personal oasis with everything from hay bales to scrap wood to a shipping container

The wreck of an ancient Greek ship, the Peristera, rests at a depth of 92 feet below the water's surface.

This Ancient Greek Shipwreck Is Now an Underwater Museum

The Peristera, a cargo vessel loaded with thousands of amphorae, sank in the Aegean Sea around 500 B.C.

This month's selections include The Beauty and the Terror, Feasting Wild and Splash.

Books of the Month

The Dangers of Space, Military Rivals and Other New Books to Read

These five recent releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Éva Székely won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Éva Székely, Holocaust Survivor and Olympic Champion Swimmer, Dies at 92

In the wake of the war, she did not attempt to hide her identity. "Unequivocally," she said, "I was a Jew"

Trending Today

American Woman Becomes First Person to Swim English Channel Four Times, Nonstop

Sarah Thomas took 54 hours to cross from England to France and back again twice, just a year after battling cancer

Blue Hole Regional Park, just south of Austin, Texas, is sought after for its canopy of bald cypress trees and its two rope swings.

America's Waterways: The Past, Present and Future

The Sublime Sensation of the Swimming Hole

Kick off your shoes and jump into summer's most refreshing tradition on a lazy afternoon

Trending Today

Thousands of Invasive Cane Toads Overtake Florida Community

A mild winter and rain has led to a spring explosion of the amphibians, which are clogging pool filters, lawns and driveways

"I'm swimmering! For science!"

New Research

How Baby Sea Turtles on Treadmills Can Help Researchers Understand Wild Turtle Survival

No doubt it's adorable, but the study offers clues into the impact of disorienting light pollution on the reptiles' health

A mermaid eats an apple at the bottom of the (artificial) sea in this late 1940s postcard.

The Historic Tail of the Weeki Wachee Mermaids

You can even learn to “mermaid” yourself, if the fancy takes you

Cenote Ik-Kil, Tinúm Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico

Dive Into Five of the World's Deepest Freshwater Swimming Holes

Take the plunge into some interesting geology

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Scotland’s Newest Nature Trails Are Underwater

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is putting snorkelers up close with the country’s marine wildlife

River tracing is a popular way to experience the great outdoors in Taiwan.

Trace a Watery Path Through Taiwan's Lush Landscape

There's a reason river tracing has become the country's newest adventure craze

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