1. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century. The goal of competitive swimming is to constantly improve upon one’s time(s), or to beat the competitors . However, some professional swimmers who do not hold a national or world ranking are considered the best as for their technical skills. Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female swimmers compete in 16 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool, called a long course pool. FINA currently recognises world records in the following events for both men and women
Freestyle: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m. Backstroke: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, Breaststroke: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, Butterfly: 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, Relays: 4×100 m freestyle, 4×200 m freestyle, 4×100 m medley.
2. Tennis is a sport usually played between two players (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a racket to strike a hollow rubber ball over a net into the opponent’s court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including people in wheelchairs. A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead, drop shot, and lob.There are five types of court surface used in professional play. Each surface is different in the speed and height of the bounce of the ball. The same surface plays faster indoors than outdoors. Surfaces: grass, hard and clay.
Main words: set, game, deuce, love.
3. Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outfield players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team with the most goals scored wins. The game is quite fast and includes body contact as the defenders try to stop the attackers. Contact is only allowed when the defensive player is completely in front of the offensive player. Unlike in basketball where players are allowed to commit only 5 fouls in a game (6 in the NBA), handball players are allowed an unlimited number of “faults”.
Main Words: Field players, substitution areas, goal keeper, Free throw, 7-metre throw, Offense, Defense.
4. Formula One, is the highest class of single seater auto racing The F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix , held on purpose-built circuits and public roads. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for the drivers and one for the constructors. The racing drivers, constructor teams, track officials, organizers, and circuits are required to be holders of valid Super Licences. Formula One cars are considered to be the fastest circuit-racing cars in the world. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to 360 km/h (220 mph) with engines limited in performance to a maximum of 18,000 revolutions per minute (RPM).
Main words: pole position, warm-up, lap, circuits, constructors, grand prix, safety car, red flag, pit lane (pilots stop for fuel), pilots, tyres, race director, season.
5 Rugby vocabulary: All Blacks, attack, conversion( kick for goal after scoring a try, for two extra points), crossbar (horizontal bar that connects the goalposts), dangerous play, drop goal ( kick through the goalposts during normal play, worth three points), a foul (an infringement of the laws; illegal play), goal (successful kick between the goalposts that earns two or three points), goalposts (vertical posts connected by a crossbar), maul (convergence of players around a ball carrier to push him and the ball forward), penalty kick (free kick awarded by the referee that can be used to kick for goal), pitch (playing field on which rugby is played), referee, rugby union, sending off, red-card (penalty for which a player must leave the pitch for the rest of the game), yellow card, rugby sevens, rugby league.
Cycling, Racing
Bicycle racing in 1909.
The professional peloton racing across the Golden Gate Bridge
Shortly after the introduction of bicycles, competitions developed independently in many parts of the world. Large races became popular during the 1890s “Golden Age of Cycling”, with events across Europe, and in the U.S. and Japan as well. At one point, almost every major city in the US had a velodrome or two for track racing events, however since the middle of the 20th century cycling has become a minority sport in the US whilst in Continental Europe it continues to be a major sport, particularly in France, Belgium and Italy. The most famous of all bicycle races is the Tour de France. This began in 1903, and continues to capture the attention of the sporting world. Road races may involve both team and individual competition. They range from the one-day road race, criterium, and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France. Track bicycles are used for track cycling in Velodromes, while cyclo-cross races are held on rugged outdoor terrain, which is performed on road, grass, and mud. Riders in cyclocross must get off their bikes at certain intervals and hop over barriers. Time trial races, another form of road racing require a rider to ride against the clock. Time trials can be performed as a team or as a single rider. Bikes are changed for time trial races. In the past decade, mountain bike racing has also reached international popularity and is even an Olympic sport.
