Summertime is so near, we can feel its humid breath on our necks. As those longer days and warmer months approach, you might ask yourself a very important question: “How, exactly, am I going to entertain my kiddos until the fall??”
We can think of no summer activity more quintessential than the recreational swim team. Summer swim is fun, first and foremost. However, it also delivers emotional and psychological advantages, unparalleled physical benefits, social perks, and the life-saving skill of water safety.
Emotional/Psychological Benefits:
It’s no secret that exercise positively impacts mental well-being. Swimming carries the same mood-boosting capability, but due to its resistance training component, it might also tire your kiddos more than other sports. Following a morning swim practice, you might even enjoy some peace and quiet—finally!
Psychological benefits are even more impressive, especially for athletes with ADHD, anxiety, high-functioning autism, and/or sensory processing disorder. Parents of children with these disorders report that swimming helps calm their kiddos down and redistributes energy into a healthy outlet.
In addition, swimming is a sport based on skill acquisition, and therefore helps build confidence. Kids will continue to add skills to their arsenal over time (streamlines, dives, turns, breathing patterns, etc.) as well as the four strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle). Gaining these skills helps their development as not only a swimmer but also a growing human!
Physical Benefits:
Swimming’s physical benefits are also overwhelming. It is a low impact sport and, as such, something that can be enjoyed lifelong. Unlike many contact sports, injury is far less common. Swimming can also serve as excellent cross-training for other sports, given the full-body emphasis and its development of body awareness (important in life but also essentially every other sport on the block).
Further, it can be an excellent alternative for injured athletes who are unable to partake in their usual sport (i.e. runners, gymnasts, soccer players, etc). Water resistance training will maintain muscle mass, and swimming’s cardio aspect will preserve fitness.
Social Benefits:
Summer swim affords your child the special opportunity to accumulate memories with lifelong friends (keeping them off the couch and computer :p). In addition, through your kid’s summer swim affiliation, you are also privy to numerous social avenues. Volunteer opportunities are abundant, allowing parents to be involved in the swim community while also developing a deeper friendship with other community members. Contributing to a whole feels good, right?
Life Saving Benefits:
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, summer swim teaches your kid a life-saving skill: the ability to, well, swim. Though we wish it weren’t, drowning is a very real fear for parents during the summer months. Developing water safety and confidence in the pool will serve your child for the rest of their life. Summer swim gets kiddos acclimated to the four competitive strokes, and also to treading water, holding their breath, keeping composure when surrounded by lots of other kids, getting in and out of a pool, and floating (amongst many, many other abilities). This is a gift that simply cannot be overlooked.
Article adapted from https://www.swimtopia.com/why-choose-summer-swim-team/