Do You Know How to Swim?
Being a part of the swimming community.
By Martina Hunt

“Take your mark,” “BEEP!” The official starts the race and the competitors launch off the blocks slicing the cool water. They turn the pool into rapids as they pull and kick towards the end of the pool. The stands are filled with supporters yelling and screaming, but all the swimmers can hear is the sound of the water rushing past their covered ears. The race ends as swimmers touch the wall, only finger lengths after each other. They shake hands with each other as they hop out of the water and the next heat climbs onto the block.
From recreational summer leagues to Olympic level competition, swimming is practiced by millions around the world. Not only is swimming a competitive sport, it is a hobby, or even just a fun summer day activity. Swimming provides numerous, long-term health benefits, both physical and mental. Knowing how to swim at a young age not only starts a healthy lifestyle early, but is vital in case of emergencies. Swimming is associated with a huge community of people that share the common love of being in the water. Joining this community commits its members to numerous health benefits both physical and mental, as well as teaches the vital skills of swimming. Almost everywhere in the world, people have access to some sort of pool, lake, ocean or river where they can jump in and experience how swimming can be a healthy and lifesaving lifestyle choice.

From semi-private pool clubs to high school athletics to USA Swimming governed events, swimming is a competitive sport with a wide range of levels, offering a wide range of benefits. Being a part of a swim team teaches children starting at young ages a variety of skills that can be carried through adulthood. Although swimming is seemingly an individual sport, meaning a competitor is racing alone against other swimmers, there are many underlying team aspects associated with swimming. In competitive swimming, competitors are apart a team that is larger than just one person. Being a member of a team teaches athletes respect and puts winning into perspective. In order for a team to work together and succeed, members must respect their coaches, as well as their fellow teammates. Communication is important in giving and earning respect. Teammates must talk to each other and listen to their coaches to make a cohesive and thriving team atmosphere. A team is only as strong as its weakest member, which teaches athletes that everything matters in competition. Members must respect and value each other’s abilities as they work to reach a common goal (VanTassel). These qualities are learned through the discipline and hard work associated with swimming on a team regardless of the level and can be translated into everyday life, even through adulthood.
Swimming also has a large family aspect associated with it. Your family bond strengthens as hours are spent with the ones you love playing pool, driving to swim meets and even exercising together. Parents are one of the largest supports in the stands during swim meets, yelling and cheering for their athletes. This strengthened family bond promotes a healthier family dynamic and less conflict at home. When part of a swim team, you gain another family. Your coaches and mentors become your second parents and your teammates become your brother and sisters. This second support system allows for greater confidence and willingness to persevere for the good of the team.

Although swimming teaches many attributes, it is also a safe and effective way to stay in shape, even as swimmers get older. Swimming provides many long-term health benefits to people of all ages. According to Bucknell University, there are many reasons as to why exercising in the water can often be more beneficial than on land. Due to the body’s natural buoyancy, water allows for a wider range of movements that would typically be too jarring on the body while on land (Swimming). This is important for supporting joints, especially those that are arthritic, and the spine, which can often be injured from impact on land, making swimming especially beneficial for seniors (Hetzler). It is also a safer exercise for people with asthma. When moisture and is lost in the bronchial tubes, they contract, making it harder to breath. When swimming, the moisture from the water replaces the moisture lost in the lungs during heavy breathing (Sparf). Resistance training, used to strengthen muscles, can be performed in the water. Water offers 12%-14% more resistance than on land, allowing for fewer sudden body movements. Exercising may often lead to dehydration of overheating if body temperature is not properly monitored. In water, however, heat is dispensed more efficiently, allowing for a decreased risk in heat stroke. This also makes it more comfortable for exercising on particularly warm days (Swimming).

Not only can exercising in water be more beneficial than on land, there are also numerous health benefits attributed with swimming. Swimming is an aerobic exercise, leading to greater endurance and a stronger heart muscle. A stronger heart improves circulation and increases the efficiency that it pumps blood. Swimming also targets many muscles in the body, leading to muscular balance and improved physique. Flexibility, which is necessary to prevent and avoid injury, is also greatly improved by swimming (Swimming). Swimming has also been shown to prolong life. Running, walking and sedentary lifestyles have higher mortality rates than lifestyles that include swimming (Hetzler). There are many ways to be active and exercise in the water. When people think of exercising in the water, they may simply think of lap swimming, swimming back and forth across the pool with the stroke of choice but there are many more ways one may exercise while in the water. Water walking, water aerobics and water yoga are all unique, fun and beneficial ways to improve physical fitness while in the water (Swimming).
Mental health can also be positively affected by swimming. Swimming as an exercise produces endorphins that elevate moods. Stress and tension are released both by swimming as an exercise and by leisurely swimming alone or with others, leading to a cleared head and renewed energy (Swimming). It has been shown that swimming allows you to be a part of a community and creates a fun and healthy atmosphere allowing you to meet new people and friends (Hetzler). Exercising while socializing with other members of the swimming community has been shown to increase mental health while decreasing levels of anxiety and depression. Confidence has also been associated with swimming, especially competitively. Being able to swim allows people to be more confident in the pool, as well as open water, which translate to confidence on land (Sparf). There are numerous health benefits associated with swimming, both physical and mental. It is a healthy lifestyle choice that can be made by people of all ages, given they first know how to swim of course.

Drowning is the second leading cause of death in children ages five to nine in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2005 and 2014, there was an average of 3,536 deaths caused by unintentional drowning a year in the United States. This calculates to about 10 people a day that die from drowning (Unintentional). Many parents find it difficult to teach their children to swim. 72% of parents surveyed said they were unable to fit swimming lessons into their schedules, 12% could not afford swimming lessons, and 11% admitted they themselves did not know how to swim (Water). The American Red Cross provides information regarding swimming lessons, including their Learn to Swim providers, a six-level process designed to teach ages 6 month to adult how to swim. This information allows parents to research different options that will work around their schedule and budget and provide their children with the necessary swim instruction.
Children are at the greatest risk for death caused by unintentional drowning. One in five victims of fatal unintentional drowning are under the age of 14 (Unintentional). A 2009 case study found that of the 61 fatal drownings examined of children ages one to four, only two of them, 3%, had been involved in formal swimming lessons. The study concluded that there was an 88% lower risk of drowning in ages one to four when they have participated in formal swimming lessons than either informal or no lessons (Brenner). This study provides evidence that children that have some sort of formal swimming lesson experience are less likely to drown unintentionally. These children have the basic skills that will save their lives in threatening situations in the water.


With time and money as the problem for so many people, the easier, cheaper and time free option is often giving children a life jacket or floaties. Although these are important and necessary devices to keep children and adults safe in and around water, as children get older, they should not be reliant on their flotation device when in the water. Air filled devices such as water wings that do not support the chest are not Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices, nor does the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommend for support in the water. They provide children with false sense of security in the water, allowing them to think they are adequate swimmers without them. Since water wings have no fittings that secure them to the swimmer’s body, they are easy to remove. In a situation that a weak swimmer wearing water wings is left unsupervised, even for a minute, they are able remove their water wings, leaving them unsupported in the water, and could drown. The Coast Guard also does not approve inflatable rafts and tubes, kick boards, and pool noodles as suitable flotation devices, as children may easily fall off and are left unsupported in the water (Rigby).
For more information about Coast Guard Approved flotation devices click here.

In a journal written by the Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison, pediatricians recommend that infants to about age four, dependent on the varied development of motor skills, should wear approved personal flotation devices as support in the water, and their progress and development in the water should be monitored (Weiss). According to Liam Straker, swim team coach and head of swimming lessons at Woodledge Swim and Tennis Club,
“Four is just about the perfect age to introduce children into formal swimming lessons. Children should be introduced to the water before though, to make them comfortable being in and around the pool. The children involved in formal lessons too early are more likely to swim unsupervised before they are able to.”
By the age of five, it is necessary to be in formal swimming lessons, or at the very least be introduced to the water. Phobias, or fears, of the water may be introduced at this age if children are unfamiliar with it (Weiss). Learning to swim at young ages is vital skill that will prevent accidents and introduce children to the swimming community early.

Whether it be the Olympic trials or an afternoon lounging by the backyard pool, swimming is an activity enjoyed by millions around the world. The swimming community has changed the lives of many for the better as they have chosen to lead a health and safe lifestyle. From learning to swim as a child to swimming daily laps as an adult, swimming proves itself as a sport, hobby or activity for people of all ages and it is never too late to join.
All you have to do is jump in.
Check out what these swimmers have to say about their community!