Why
Swim?
Age group swimming builds a strong
foundation for a lifetime of good health by teaching healthy
fitness habits.
1. Physical
Development
Many physicians consider swimming the ideal activity for
developing muscular and skeletal growth. Why do
doctors like it so much?
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Swimming develops high quality aerobic endurance, the most
important key to physical fitness. Unlike other sports, where
an hour of practice may yield as little as 10 minutes of meaningful
exercise, swimming practices provide sustained aerobic
conditioning.
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Swimming provides proportional muscular development by using all
the body’s major muscle groups.
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Swimming enhances children’s natural flexibility at a time
when they ordinarily begin to lose it by exercising all of their
major joints through a full range of motion.
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Swimming helps develop superior coordination because it requires
combinations of complex movements of all parts of the body,
enhancing harmonious muscle function, grace, and fluidity of
movement.
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Swimming is the most injury-free of all children’s
sports.
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Swimming is a sport that will bring fitness and enjoyment for
life. Participants in Master’s Swimming programs still
train and race well into their
80s.
2. Intellectual
Competence
In addition to physical development, children can develop
greater intellectual competence by participating in a guided
program of physical activity. Learning and using
swimming skills engages the thinking
processes. As they learn new techniques, children
must develop and plan movement sequences. They
improve by exploring new ideas. They learn that
greater progress results from using their creative
talents.
3. Preparation For
Life
One of the great values of swimming as a sport is that it
prepares one for life. The total swimming
experience is made up of people, attitudes, beliefs, work habits,
fitness, health, winning and losing, and much
more. Swimmers learn to deal with pressure and
stress, success and failure, teamwork and discipline.
Swimming is a self-achievement
activity. There is only one person in the water
in a given lane in any race. The responsibility
for performance ultimately lies with the individual. How well the
individual has prepared physically and mentally to a large degree
determines the performance level.
By learning how to handle frustration and disappointment,
swimmers gain confidence. They learn dedication
and commitment. Through perseverance, swimmers
learn to overcome adversity. All of these
experiences tend to develop individuals who are better able to
handle life’s hardships and face problems.
Swimmers must learn that not all people are born with the same
natural talents. They learn to emphasize their
given talents and skills. Swimmers learn that if
they do their best, then there are no failures. They learn to set
realistic goals for themselves which they will achieve through hard
work.
(Adapted from USA Swimming)