Physical Benefits

• Improves posture, flexibility, muscular endurance, strength and balance.
• Most beneficial form of cardiovascular exercise (has a calorie-burning potential of 350-420 calories per hour).
• Creates muscle tone and promotes proportional muscular development in children.
• Swimming develops superior coordination.
• Swimming is relatively injury-free in comparison to other youth sports.
• Swimming is a healthy lifetime activity. Participants may be 1 or 101 years old.
• Stimulates circulation.
• Promotes proper breathing.
• Rehabilitates under-used or healing muscles (aquatic therapy).
• Improves one's ability to control and maintain a healthy weight.
• Helps to combat the aging process.
• Workouts can be tailored to fit the needs of the individual.
• Its low impact...the water makes the body almost weightless, greatly diminishing the impact on joints.
• Swimming provides most of the aerobic benefits that running does, with many of the benefits of resistance training thrown in.
• Swimming does not put the strain on connective tissues that running, aerobics and some weight-training regimens do.
• Uses almost all the major muscle groups, and places a vigorous demand on your heart and lungs.
• For pregnant women, water exercise strengthens and tones the muscles used during childbirth.
• For some disabled and elderly persons gives a sense of freedom as they can freely move around in the water and be upright in a standing position.
• Swimming can prevent drowning by implementing proactive drowning prevention programs. Safety is a primary benefit of quality swim lessons.

Social Benefits

• Lots of laughs and fun while getting a great workout!
• Establishes good friendships through water classes.
• Enjoyable even when working hard.
• A sport that is safe for all ages, at all fitness and proficiency levels.

• Cultivates a positive mental attitude and high self-esteem.
• Promotes fitness and teaches a child to strive for physical achievement. Many professional athletes in other sports started out as swimmers and gained strength and coordination that helped them to excel.
• Heightened sense of well-being.
• Increased energy level.
• Stress reducer.
• Soothes the mind and body.

• Increasing self-esteem through the development of aquatic skills.
• Swimming is an exciting individual and team sport.
• Swimming is a technical and specialized activity involving extensive skill development.
• Participation in competitive aquatic programs that help youth set high expectations for achievement.
• Hours and hours of constructive use of time for youth of all ages.
• Gives kids a place to go and entertain themselves.
• Employment options for local teens.

• A place to relax.
• Brings families together.
• Wholesome, affordable, family entertainment.

• Swimming - a skill for life!

• Swimming is good for rehabilitation after surgery, weight loss and relaxation.
• Swimming works all the muscles and gives similar results to walking or running, without adding stress to knees, ankles, legs and the back.
• Swimming is especially useful for people who are overweight, pregnant, or with leg or lower back problems.
• Water exercises benefit seniors, arthritis sufferers, or anyone with an injury.
• The near weightless feeling of being in the water helps strengthen shoulders and abdominal muscles.
• Swimming strengthens the heart, which improves delivery of oxygen to muscles.
• Swimming helps decrease problems associated with diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and allergies.
• Swimming after breast surgery is an excellent means of exercising all the major muscle groups, and avoiding muscular atrophy often seen in post-surgical patients who remain sedentary for prolonged periods. Before beginning an exercise program, talk to your doctor to make sure it is okay to begin moderate exercises. Swimming is also good because it strengthens the abdomen, back and shoulders. These muscles will help post-mastectomy women carry their weight more easily.
  
  
  

• Learning and using swimming skills engages the thinking process…
  As children learn new techniques, they must develop and plan movement sequences.
• Swimmers improve by exploring new ideas. They learn that greater progress results from using their creative talents.
• Swimming motivates participants to strive for self-improvement and teaches goal orientation.
• Swimming cultivates a positive mental attitude and high self-esteem.

Swimmers Learn Life Skills

Swimming teaches student-athletes important life skills such as:
Time Management, self-discipline and sportsmanship. 

Socialization

Perhaps the best reason for getting your children involved in competitive swimming is the friendships that they will develop. Camaraderie among swimmers is unique… “Swimming Buddies” often become lifelong friends.

In a few years, the medals and ribbons will be laid aside and best times will be a hazy memory. The friendships that will develop and the life skills learned will carry on for a lifetime.

The Endless Health Benefits of Swimming

Why is Swimming So Good?
Swimming works your whole body, improving cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength, endurance, posture, and flexibility all at the same time. Your cardiovascular system in particular benefits because swimming improves your body’s use of oxygen without overworking your heart.

Read more at LifeScript.

“Excellence can be obtained if you care more than others think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible.”

~ Unknown author