Olympic Games 101

At the 1896 Athens Games, the first Olympic swimming competitions were held outdoors, in and around the Bay of Zea and were watched by 40,000 people on the shore.. The swimmers, taken by a small boats to the starting line out sea, had to battle not only each other, but also horribly cold weather (13 degrees Fahrenheit) and 12-foot waves. Of the 13 entries in the 100-meter freestyle, only two finished.