Swimming is a common person’s or group sports that involves the utilization of one’s body extensively. The game takes place either in open water or swimming pools. If one is new to swimming, it is advisable to learn to swim at a swimming camp where they can get proper coaching and guidance on swimming. At a swimming camp, one will receive adequate knowledge about swimming including the importance of arm stroke, arm kick, buoyancy, hip throw, kick, turn, head movement and turn, body movement, balance and endurance. This will help new swimmers to build up their confidence. The basic skills are learnt in swimming camps and if someone successfully learns all these, then he will be given an official swimming test.
The most common strokes in swimming include breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. Competitive swimmers compete with each other in events like swimming the distance, holding the longest distance, the most strokes won and the most medals won. In a swimming competition, the swimmers have to wear specific equipment like goggles, gloves, swim caps, shorts and socks. In order to qualify for a competition, the swimmers have to meet certain criteria like swimming with style, executing turns properly, maintaining correct swimming posture and also showing grace in finishing the race.
As far as professional swimming is concerned, there are different divisions for each discipline like men’s and women’s. Men’s competitive swimming consists of four main divisions where the men swim for a single day and the winner of the event receives the trophy. Women’s competitive swimming includes a set of separate classes for the women’s segment and each section is subdivided into individual classes. Other than this, there are some additional classes added for children and other extra programs are run by governing bodies.
As you can see from above, swimming is a popular recreational activity. In the past years, it has gained popularity especially in children and elderly people. Some people consider swimming a vital part of their lifestyle. So what is the reason behind their increasing popularity?
First, it is a very safe form of exercise where both the experienced and inexperienced swimmers participate. Unlike jogging and running, you do not need high heels and special shoes to practice. In addition to this, swimming does not require much physical exertion unlike other exercises such as weight lifting or cycling. Finally, there are many interesting international and world level championships, so you can aim for gold during the Olympics.
Now, as you can see that there are many benefits of swimming, we should not forget its great entertainment value. In the beginning, swimming was mainly a method of transportation during plumbers and shipbuilders were developing new cities. Back then, swimming was used to test out the hulls of newly constructed ships and the Olympic pools are even used for some of the best water shows in the world. To conclude, swimming is definitely a very good sport to indulge in because it offers both advantages and disadvantages and all you have to do is find that swimming style fits you best.