The construction of a large number of swimming pools and bathing places during the 19th century (Zagreb in the 1830s and 1850s, Osijek in the 1830s???, Bjelovar in the 1870s, Samobor in the 1880s, Zadar and Split in the 1890s) gave rise to more systematic and mass swimming lessons on the territory of Croatia. At the end of the 19th century, the first newspaper articles and books on learning swimming techniques began to be published, as well. The first swimming competitions began to be held in different parts of Croatia (Split, Rijeka, Zagreb, Zadar) at the beginning of the 20th century. The first swimming sports club was the Swimming Club founded in Zagreb in 1910, but the club became the swimming section of HAŠK (Croatian Academic Sports Club) already in 1911. Swimming sections were also founded as part of Šišmiš Samobor Sports Club in 1910 and Viktorija Sušak (Rijeka) Croatian Sports Club in 1914. The construction of a greater number of swimming pools in the interwar period gave a more significant impetus to the development of sports swimming. In that period, a number of swimming clubs and swimming sections were also founded at existing clubs (Dubrovnik, Split, Omiš, Šibenik, Karlovac, Novi Vinodolski, Zagreb). Indoor swimming pools began to be built in the 1950s.
The Croatian Sports Federation founded a swimming section in 1911. It is considered the first umbrella swimming organization in Croatia. It also organized the first Croatian Swimming Championships (the Men’s Championships in Karlovac and the Women’s Championships in Zagreb) that same year. The Yugoslav Swimming Federation, with its head office in Zagreb, was founded in 1921 and the Croatian Swimming Association was founded in 1939. After the Second World War, the Swimming Federation of Croatia was active from 1947 on. It changed its name to the Croatian Swimming Federation and it has been a member of European Aquatics and World Aquatics since 1992. Croatian swimmers first appeared at the Olympic Games in Paris in 1924, and at the European Swimming Championships in 1927.
The greatest Croatian swimming successes were achieved by Đurđica Bjedov, who won the gold and silver medals in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, and Duje Draganja, who won the silver medal in the 50m freestyle at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Several Croatian swimmers have set world records (Miloš Milošević, Tomislav Karlo, Gordan Kožulj and Sanja Jovanović) and won a number of medals at European (8 gold medals) and world championships (3 gold medals).