**Full Disclosure: I attended a sponsored Mom Trends event with SwimToday. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Growing up, my sister and I spent a good amount of time at the swimming pool down the street from our home. I lounged poolside with a book and plenty of sunscreen, occasionally taking a dip in the water to cool off. My sister took practiced her strokes for swim meets.
Now that I have a family of my own, I regret not taking advantage of the chance to really learn how to swim. To my defense, I am not a fan of water in my face (up my nose or in my eyes). I can keep myself afloat with a doggie paddle and I don’t mind being in the shallow end of a pool with my kids but that’s about as much as I can handle.
Both of my kids have taken swim lessons, but, like 80% of parents, I’ve never considered allowing them to swim competitively. (Did you know that 89 percent of moms vs. 63 percent of dads are involved in the decision making process for kids’ sports?) But why would I want to consider swimming as a sport for my kids?
While I attended a SwimToday event with 5-time Olympian, Dara Torres last week, I heard lots of reasons to support swimming as a great sport for kids.
Photo Credit: Mario Cantu
Photo Credit: Mario Cantu
Why is Swimming a Great Sport for Kids?
- FUN & Friends – Swimming is ranked very high as a social activity. Kids considered swimming to be fun and a great way to make friends.
- Exercise – Swimming burns 650 calories in an hour – more than walking, biking or team sports. It’s also a sport that has very low risk of injury and can be continued at any age.
- Life Skills – Swimming increases self-confidence, self-esteem, time management, goal-setting and social development
- Teamwork – 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.
- All Inclusive – Every child participates in swimming. No one is left to sit on the bench because they aren’t as good as the other kids.
Did you know that USA Swimming has online resources to help parents easily find instructors and swim clubs in their area? Head to www.swimtoday.org, type in your zip code and quickly find an instructor or local swim club.
Through SwimToday, teams are making it easy to join with special incentives including free swim team assessments, free swim caps, free trial month and other custom benefits. What’s not to love about a sport that you can try before you commit!?
I am now really considering enrolling my kids in competitive swimming.
Swimming is really a great sport for kids. Both my kids had swimming lessons. They love the water but none of them got into the sport. My husband and I would have said yes in a heartbeat had they wanted to.
My kids love swimming and they have all been in lessons from the start. Water safety is so important plus it is super fun
Swimming definitely is a great exercise and if kids stick with it they can definitely have more than a life skill: they can develop a great habit.
Wow, I always thought it was the dad that decided the sports. We never even gave swimming a thought with our kiddos. Maybe we will with our youngest.
Wanna know a secret? I can’t swim. I have taken lessons, but I just sink. LOL. Both of my boys however never even needed lessons – they are both self taught. In our school system, all kids get lessons in gym class starting in 3rd grade, but my kids have been swimming like fishes for years.
Having swimming written into the curriculum is BRILLIANT!! (I sink, too! You aren’t alone!)
My daughter adores the water, but has poor coordination. I hope to get her swimming at some point though.
I think swimming is a great sport for kids. If there was a swim team I definitely would.
A couple of my kids friends swam competitively when they were in grade school but, they were never interested in it at all. I made sure to get them in swim classes because, like driving, it’s an important life skill to have.
My kids loved swimming but no, I never thought about it as a competitive sport. But then, it wasn’t really offered in my area either.
We adore our swim team. So glad you could join Momtrends for this event.
My 3 year old kid already spends soo much time in the swimming pool.