Why we swim: A brief history of swimming from the Neanderthals to slavery to your local pool

Many Australians love a swim — like this man, jumping into a Sydney ocean pool in 1947. (State Library of NSW)

As summer continues in Australia, and with it, the long, warm evenings and baking hot weekends, many of us are thinking about the same thing: Going for a swim.

Be it bodysurfing or laps, in beaches, rivers or pools, we've been making up for lost time as La Niña's grip slowly weakens.