Swimming: 8 facts – trivial and not – from 'Swim'

From author and journalist Lynn Sherr's new book 'Swim,' here are 8 facts about the history of humans in the water

7. Swimming as power move

In 1966, Chinese leader Mao Zedong took to the water – in this case, the country's Yangtze River – at the age of 72 to prove to his opponents that he was healthy and fit to lead after rumors swirled he was sickly. Mao was in the water for more than an hour and even showed a little girl how to do the backstroke.

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