Swimming is one of the most popular sports in world. World is surrounded by water and swimming is one of our great passions. As well as being fun, swimming is a great way to keep fit, stay healthy and make friends. Swimming is a healthy activity that you can continue for a lifetime. It is a low-impact activity that has many physical and mental health benefits.

Swimming for recreation

Swimming is a great recreational activity for people of all ages. Recreational swimming can provide you with a low-impact workout and it’s also a good way to relax and feel good. Common swimming styles in recreational swimming are breaststroke, backstroke, side stroke and freestyle.

Competitive swimming

Some people who enjoy swimming want to take it to a competitive level. This can provide the health benefits of a vigorous workout as well as the fun and thrill of competition. The main strokes used in competitive swimming are breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly. The distances swum in competition swimming can vary from 50 meters in a pool to much further distances in open water.

Benefits :

60 years and over

- Excellent form of exercise, low impact activity, relaxing and increases muscle strength.
- Important social aspects - 50+ sessions available at all sites
- Also take advantage of other activities at including the Health fitness including aqua aerobics

Under 16's

- Excellent exercise and a good way of burning of energy
- Improves confidence and is overall great fun
- Generally improves participation levels in physical activity rather than sedentary based activities, helping to combat rising obesity levels amongst under 16's
- Family cohesion - swimming is a fun and healthy way to spend time together as a family

Some general tips

Before you dive in:
* Make sure you know how to swim.
* Choose a safe environment.
* Warm up and stretch your muscles and joints before entering the water.
* Have plenty of fluids on hand and drink regularly.
* Don’t overdo it if you’re just starting out.
* See your doctor if you haven’t exercised for a long time.

Labels: Health Benefits, Health fitness Exercise, Physical Fitness, swimming