FOR THE RECORD: Introduced the single over arm sidestroke about 1850. It remained the choice stroke for all distances of organized competitive swimming for 35 years, and the dominant distance stroke for 46 years.
C. W. Wallis introduced the single over arm sidestroke about 1850. He developed the stroke after watching some Aborigines swim in the Lane Cove River at Fig Tree near Sydney. He introduced his stroke in England in 1855–swimming on the side but bringing the upper arm forward above the surface of the water. It was called the over arm sidestroke (“Over” for short). It remained the choice stroke for all distances of organized competitive swimming for 35 years, and the dominant distance stroke for 46 years. The first Olympic champions from Alfred Hajos in 1896, John Jarvis (1900) and Emil Rausch (1904) all swam the “over”, Wallis’ stroke.