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Top swimmers from the around the world going to train for the upcoming Fina World Swimming Championships at the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai. Image Credit: Zarina Fernandes/Gulf News

Dubai: The last edition of Fina World Swimming Championships (25 metres) in Manchester, United Kingdom witnessed 18 new world records being set. The tenth edition that gets under way at the impressive Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Complex on Wednesday, has set a few records even before the start of the competition.

A record 777 swimmers from 148 countries are taking part at the Dubai Championships, compares to the 600-odd swimmers from 116 nations that showed up in Manchester more than two years back.

This is also the first time such a major international swimming competition is being held in the Middle East.

"The record numbers simply mean that people trust Dubai to do things well," Vice Championships Director Dr Khalid Al Zahed told Gulf News as the last touches were being given to the final rehearsal to welcome the athletes and officials.

"Almost all the swimmers and officials have arrived and everything is in place to ensure we have the best Fina World Swimming Championships in the history of the sport," Dr Al Zahed promised.

The official said Fina President Dr Julio Maglioni was effusive in his praise of the new sports complex that has come up along the Dubai Bypass Road in Dubailand. "Dr Maglioni has praised the Local Organising Committee on the work we have done so far in putting such an event together. This is not only an honour for us, but also a huge motivation and encouragement for us to ensure we live up to the high ideals set before us," Dr Al Zahed added.

The official opening ceremony will be a brief 45-minute affair starting at 6.45pm today after which the actual competition will get under way with the 200metres freestyle heats for men.

The daily competition schedule will be in two sessions with the morning races held from 10am and the late evening session from 7pm. Tickets have been reasonably priced and organisers are hoping that UAE residents will grab this opportunity to see some of the best swimmers in action over the next five days.

"I admit swimming is not a very popular sport in this part of the world, but we want UAE residents to make use of this unique opportunity of having some of the world's best swimmers right here," Dr Al Zahed said.

In April 2008, the Fina Trophy for the best team went to the United States with an accumulated tally of 797 points coupled with the top position in the medals table with ten gold, six silver and one bronze.

Australia came in second with eight gold, nine silver and two bronze medals showing how close the competition has been.

Come Sunday, and the swimming world will once again see who is at the top of the ranks — the US, Australia or some other nation.

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The new Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Complex is ready to host the short course event, in which 777 competitors from 148 countries will take part. Image Credit: Zarina Fernandes/Gulf News
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Butterfly stroke is the most recent stroke, developed in the 1950s. The timing and coordination of butterfly stroke is usually a two beat cycle of leg kicks to one arm cycle. The undulating action of the body and the legs creates great demands of the spine, therefore there are many alternative exercises and practices that can be used to make learning the stroke easier and less physical. Image Credit: Gulf News
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Freestyle is the fastest, most efficient stroke of them all. This is largely down to the streamlined body position and continuous propulsion from the arms and legs. The arm action generates almost all of the propulsion and is the most efficient arm action of all strokes. The leg action promotes a horizontal, streamlined body position and balances the arm action but provides little propulsion. Freestyle breathing technique requires the head to be turned so that the mouth clears the water but causes minimal upset to the balance of the body from its normal streamlined position. Image Credit: Gulf News
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The majority of the power when swimming backstroke is produced by the alternating arm technique and its horizontal streamlined body position gives it its efficiency. Therefore this is the preferred stroke in competitive races swum on the back. The nature of floating on the back, face up (supine) can be a calming and relaxing feeling. Also the face is clear of the water, allowing easy breathing and little water splashes onto the face. On the other hand it can be counter productive at first, as it can give a feeling of disorientation and unease. The supine body position is flat and horizontal, with ears slightly below the water surface. Image Credit: Gulf News
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Breaststroke, commonly misspelt “breast stroke”, is the oldest and slowest of the four basic swimming strokes. It is also the most inefficient of all strokes, which is what makes it the slowest. Breaststroke is normally one of the first strokes to be taught, especially to adults, as the head and face is clear of the water, giving the swimmer a greater perception of their whereabouts and their buoyancy. There are variations in the overall technique, ranging from a slow recreational style to a more precise competitive style. Body position should be as flat and streamlined as possible with an inclination from the head to the feet so that the leg kick recovery takes place under the water. Image Credit: Gulf News
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Medley relay consists of four different swimmers in one relay competition, each swimming one stroke. Medley relay is swum by four different swimmers, each swimming one of the four strokes. Backstroke is the first event as backstroke is started from the water. If backstroke would not be the first event, the starting backstroke swimmer and the finishing previous swimmer could block each other. The remaining strokes are sorted according to the speed, with breaststroke being the slowest and freestyle being the fastest stroke. The order of the strokes is as follows: backstroke; breaststroke; butterfly; freestyle, with the limitation that freestyle means any style other than backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly. Image Credit: Gulf News
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