species of snakes are aquatic and live their entire lives in the water, but all terrestrial snakes are excellent swimmers as well.citation needed The larger pythons and anacondas spend the majority of their time in the water; their skeletons are not able to support their body weight well on dry land. Many Beetles are able to swim, some species of diving beetle spend most of their time in the water. Competitive swimming:The goal of competitive swimming is to be the fastest over a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century, and comprises 34 individual events - 17 male events and 17 female events. Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool. Competitive swimming's international governing body is FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation), the International Swimming Federation.The four competitive strokes are the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle (front crawl).

While "freestyle" and "front crawl" are often used interchangeably, freestyle is the more common name and is used in almost all competitive, club-swimming or international competitions.Swimmers generally choose to swim front crawl in a freestyle event since it is the fastest and easiest stroke. Disqualification will occur if the stroke is not swum correctly, for example if the swimmer does not touch the wall with two hands during breaststroke or butterfly.These strokes can be swum individually or together in an individual medley (IM). The IM order is: 1) butterfly, 2) backstroke, 3) breaststroke, and 4) freestyle. There are two types of relays: medley and freestyle. The medley relay order is: 1) backstroke, 2) breaststroke, 3) butterfly, and 4) freestyle. Each of the four swimmers in the relay swims a predetermined distance, dependent on the overall length of the relay. The three relay lengths are 200 meters or yards, 400 meters or yards, and 800 meters or yards (which is only swum freestyle).

In a 50 meter pool, each swimmer swims one length for the 200 relay, two lengths for the 400 relay, and four lengths for the 800 relay. In a 25 meter or yard pool, each swimmer swims two lengths for the 200 relay, four lengths for the 400 relay, and eight lengths for the 800 relay.There have also been 100 yard relays that have been done by 8 and under swimmers, but is very rare except in summer recreation leagues. Many full-size competition pools in the United States have a length of 50 meters and a width of 25 yards (the Olympic pool size, allowing both short course (25 m or 25 yd pool) and long course (50 m pool) races to be held.There are several types of judges: a starter sends the swimmers off the blocks and may also call a false-start if a swimmer leaves the block before the starter sends them; finish judges make sure the swimmers touch the wall with the appropriate number of hands (one hand for freestyle and backstroke, two for breaststroke and butterfly with the swimmer's hands touching the wall at the same time, not one after another) turn judges check that the swimmers' turns are within rules; stroke judges check the swimmers' strokes; time keepers time the swims; and the referee along with the starter and the officials make sure everything is running smoothly.

If an official catches a swimmer breaking a rule concerning the stroke he or she is swimming, that swimmer is said to be disqualified (commonly referred to as a "DQ") and the swim is not considered valid.There are two types of meets.

Swimming

Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through water, usually without artificial assistance. Swimming is an activity that can be both useful and recreational. Its primary uses are bathing, cooling, travel, fishing, escape, and sport.Animals with lungs have an easier time floating than those without. Almost all mammals can swim by instinct, including bats, kangaroos, moles and sloths. The few exceptions include apes and possibly giraffes and porcupines. There are several reports of apes in zoos falling and drowning in water moats without any struggle (see Bender 1999: 114-119).citation needed However, some apes can learn swimming: there is a report of two gorillas swimming in a zoo (Bender 1999: 116-117) and of some orangutans of the Kaja Islands who have learned to swim (Schuster, Smits & Ullal 2008: 102). Land birds can swim or float for at least some time. Ostriches, cassowaries and tortoises can swim. Juvenile penguins drown if they accidentally fall in water since their down cover is not designed for aquatic activities.

Non-aquatic animals:Humans do not swim instinctively, but they feel attracted to water and show a broader range of swimming movements than other non-aquatic animals (Bender 1999: 119-169). In contrast, many monkeys can naturally swim and some, like the proboscis monkey, crab-eating macaque, and Rhesus macaque swim regularly. A dog swimmingSome breeds of dog swim recreationally. Umbra, a world record-holding dog, can swim 4 miles (6.4 km) in 73 minutes, placing her in the top 25% in human long-distance swimming competitions. Although most cats hate water, adult cats are good swimmers. The fishing cat is one wild species of cat that has evolved special adaptations for an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle - webbed digits. Tigers and some individual jaguars are the only big cats known go into water readily, though other big cats, including lions, have been observed swimming. A few domestic cat breeds also like swimming, such as the Turkish Van. In a unpublished research carried out 2002 at the University of Bern (Switzerland) , Bender & Hirt showed that the Turkish Van has less inhibition to enter in shallow water compared to another breed, the Russian Blue.

This behavior can be partially explained by the character of the Turkish Van, who seems to be more curious and enterprising than other cat breeds (see Widmer 1990).Horses, moose, and elk are very powerful swimmers, and can travel long distances in the water. Elephants are also capable of swimming, even in deep waters. Eyewitnesses have confirmed that camels, including Dromedaries and Bactrians, can swim, despite the fact that there is little deep water in their natural habitats.Both domestic and wild rabbits can swim. Domestic rabbits are sometimes trained to swim as a circus attraction. A wild rabbit famously swam in an apparent attack on U.S. President Jimmy Carter's boat when it was threatened in its natural habitat.The Guinea pig (or cavy) is noted as having an excellent swimming ability.. Mice can swim quite well. They do panic when placed in water, but many lab mice are used in the Morris water maze, a test to measure learning. When mice swim, they use their tails like flagella and kick with their legs.