Competitive swimming has been around scince before the 19th century. There are records of a 1844 race between a englishman and two Native Americans, and freestyle was developed from the style used by both the Native Americans and Australians. England was the first country to have a swimming society, founded in 1840, followed by Germany in 1882, France in 1890, and Hungary in 1896. In 1889, Australia begain to hold swimming competitions, as well as the U.S. in 1877. Swimming was introduced to the Olympics in 1896.