Four in every five school-going adolescents worldwide do not meet their daily recommended exercise targets. Camryn Robertson, 13, from the British School of Brussels says it is time to give swimming a try.
Adrenaline. That is the only thing that you feel before a swim race. Looking across the pool at all the other swimmers, all of you competing to win. When you’re standing there waiting next to the blocks, nothing else is going through your mind. Just the race ahead of you.
Not only is swimming one of the most widely known sports, it is also an important life skill. Swimming works every part of your body, and it improves your overall strength, lung capacity and flexibility. Studies show that it is the most effective sport to work your whole body1 and it enhances your strength and endurance.
Those who choose to compete in it must train during unsociable hours, mostly early in the morning or late at night. They show a commitment to the sport by attending the frequent training sessions and competitions every weekend.
Eighty percent of the US population say they can swim — however only 56% really can.2 And out of the 335 million people living in the country there are only 260,000 competitive swimmers as of the 2023-2024 competition season.3 That is only 0.0008% of the whole population of the United States!
Studies and polls show that swimming creates some of the strongest friendships between athletes.4 We can put this down to three main reasons:
Competitive swimmers are incredibly fast! Their workouts range between 3 and 4 km in speed, and the athletes must always be thinking about their strokes or when to turn. This pressure creates a common struggle that the swimmers bond over.
Secondly, swimmers train four to six times a week and compete almost every weekend,
sometimes even twice in one weekend! Spending so much time together creates friendships that last a lifetime.
Finally, winning races, getting new best times and even getting new swimsuits can be bonding moments. Swimmers work together and encourage each other to reach their goals. All athletes know the feeling of qualifying for championships or even winning. And they all want that for their teammates too.
I believe that competitive swimming should be a more publicised sport, and more people should investigate it and find more ways to be confident in the water. A way that it could be spread more widely is to use it better in the school PE curriculum. Sports journalists should also write more about what is happening in the swimming world. There are so many exciting moments to discuss — for example Jordan Crooks’ recent world record for the 50 freestyle5, becoming the first person ever to swim it in under 20 seconds.
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- From Domyos.
- From the Themagic blog.
- From SwimSwam magazine.
- From Swimming World magazine.
- From World Aquatics.
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