Why Swimming Is Our Summer Activity of Choice

Thanks to Swim Today for sponsoring this post and providing information, all opinions are 100% my own.

Swimming is fun – pure and simple. Some of my favorite memories from when I was a kid were heading to the lake to go swimming with all my cousins and just splashing around all day long.

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Swimming out to the floating dock, climbing up and then diving back under, seeing who could swim back to shore the fastest or do a handstand in the water… Yes, we were like fish back then and you would be hard-pressed to get us out of the water save for a quick bite to eat or the sun setting at the end of the day. Swimming was just a way of life!

Now that I have kids of my own, I want them to enjoy a love of swimming too! When my son was just six months old, I started him in a local parent/child swim group. He took to the water so well and now you will often find him in the pool on a hot summer day (floaties no longer needed).

His two younger sisters have also developed an interest in swimming from early on, and although they were a little more timid, introducing them to water early has made it easy to help them take any fear out of it and just keep it fun!

While my kids have access to a pool whenever they would like to swim, I know that not everyone has that option. And you may think you don’t have a pool nearby, but I actually found out that tons of communities have a local pool! In fact, nearly 62% of families live within 10 minutes of a pool, according to a Swim Today report.

If you are interested in getting your child into lessons, or even thinking about competitive swimming, head over to Swim Today and enter your zip code to learn more about finding a team close to you. I talked to my son last night about possibly joining a swim team and he was really excited at the idea. We are going to start looking into teams today!

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Benefits of Learning to Swim or Joining a Club

There are so many benefits of swimming; it would be hard to list them all. But a few that really resonate with me and I feel are amazing benefits to any kid are:

Everyone participates – Swimming is inclusive, there are no benchwarmers (nor benches).
Swimming is a team sport – Only 16 percent of non-swimming parents view swimming as a team sport but parents of swimmers associate the sport with teamwork more than any other sport.
Suit up and go – Only a swimsuit, cap and goggles are necessary to get started.
Life skills – Swimming increases self-confidence, self-esteem, time management, goal-setting and social development.
Easy to learn – 76% of parents said the ease of learning to swim was high.
Low risk of injury – No contact makes for a safer environment.
Swimming = total body fitness – Burn 650 calories in an hour – more than walking, biking or other team sports!
Sport for life – Once you learn to swim, you can enjoy no matter your age.
Swimming is FUN – Parents confirm that swimming is the #FunnestSport.