The main reasons why your kid should learn to swim.
Apart from the fact that it opens up new opportunities as your kid grows, there are many other benefits and zero reasons why your child shouldn’t learn to swim as early as possible. Here are the top picks.
Swimming equals safety
Unfortunately, drowning is the second biggest cause of unintentional injury-related death to children of the age up to 14. We are surrounded by water, even if it’s as small as a family bathtub, making sure your kid is comfortable in and around water is essential. Even if your boy or girl isn’t interested in competitive swimming, introducing them to simple swimming and floating techniques is important for their safety and confidence.
Swimming teaches time management
Apart from teamwork and confidence, competitive swimming is great for teaching kids time management, as they can learn how to use the little free time to do what needs doing. A kid in the high school who goes swimming before school, and then once again after school, quickly develops a work ethics which allows them to decide when its best to stay up and do the assignments, and when to turn in for the night to get fully rested for the day ahead. Being able to divide and manage one’s time, prioritizing want needs to be done first, is an invaluable skill that dedicated swimmers hold on for the rest of their lives.
Promotes teamwork
Although generally considered an individual sport, directing your kid towards athletic swimming has a benefit of a great team atmosphere. Many accomplished college athletes have admitted that they missed their team and the time spent while training and travelling to competitions. Even if the things get hard, the fact that your teammates endure the same hard work you do every day, is an excellent source of motivation, support and positive environment which can be carried through life into workplace and beyond. On top of that, the individual aspect still remains, teaching kids self-motivation and goal setting.
Can be practiced at home
A huge benefit of teaching your kid to swim is that it’s an activity that can be enjoyed at home. While most people think about the cost of a backyard pool and hassle of extensive excavations, there’s a much more elegant and affordable solution. Unlike backyard pools that can only be used for a part of the year, modern swim spas offer you the best of both worlds, providing both the excellent indoor swimming, and the unmatched place to relax. Swim poles and handrails can be added to make them useful for swimmers of all levels, while the shell design provides optimal water flow for both swimming and unwinding modes.
Promotes healthy life
In its essence, swimming is a sport that involves moving multiple muscle groups in a high-intensity, cardio workout. Children are often advised to take up swimming for weight loss. Not only does a single session burn a ton of calories, but it’s easier for obese children to pick it up, due to its low impact. Still, the workout it provides is exceptionally challenging, as it offers 12 to 14% more resistant training than activities on land. Apart from weight loss, introducing your children to swimming at early age promotes healthy life, while recreational activities which include both children with developmental disabilities and their parents, have shown to improve family connections.
A great sport for young’uns
Since it’s performed in water, swimming is a great low impact sport. Our bodies are 90% buoyant when in the water up to your neck, so there is no hitting the ground with all our weight. Even on the long run, swimming is often cited as the ideal sport for general well-being. On the other hand, if practiced excessively, every activity can cause injuries, and swimming injuries are not so uncommon. Luckily, they all can be averted with proper warming up and conditioning.
Quick recovery
Unlike in many other sport, where an injury often prevents you from participating for the time it takes to heal, in swimming, if your sprain a shoulder, for example, you can still practice by holding onto a polystyrene buoy and letting your legs do all the work. Basically, you rest the injured part of the body, and adjust your swimming technique. The most common swimming injuries in kids are the result of overuse, and typically heal in the matter of weeks.
If you teach your kid how to swim at a young age, the skill remains with them forever. As they grow, they’ll be able to improve their health and the quality of life by swimming. In addition, swimming is a great family activity, which can be enjoyed by three generations, without the risk of someone falling while biking or rollerblading.
Author BIO
If one thing is true about Lillian Connors, her mind is utterly curious. That’s why she can’t resist the urge to embark on a myriad of green living/home improvement projects and spread the word about them. She cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on. You can check her out LinkedIn.