Swimming
The breast stroke was the preferred Viking method. It was normal to learn to
swim as a child. In order to strengthen the leg strokes they often swam with
weights on their backs. Swimming was a popular competitive activity, the most
common competitions were:
Water-Wrestling
This was a wrestling match in the water. The idea
was to keep the opponents head under water until he gave up. These matches often
lasted for hours and were the most popular form of swimming competition.
Distance swimming
The swimmers started from the beach and swam out towards the open sea. They
would turn around when they didn't dare swim any further out. The last one to
turn was the winner. The longest swims that we know of were about 30 km.
Speed swimming
The goal here was to be the first across the finish line. This was a very
popular form of competition.
