Swimming

By: Adriana Rego

Sports Reporter

Swimming is a lot of fun and is nice to play out in the pool, but many people underestimate the physical strength that is required to swim. There is more to swimming than just fooling around.

 Swimming competitively is very hard. In swimming, there are four different kinds of strokes; breaststroke, freestyle, backstroke and butterfly.

While swimming breaststroke, you need to swim with your arms extended and pull in. Also, you need to kick your legs like a frog…i.e. in and out. Freestyle is the standard stroke you swim at meets (Competitions for swimming). In this stroke, you need to pump your legs and move your arms in a swimming motion. Backstroke is exactly like freestyle except of course, you swim on your back! Finally, in butterfly, you move your arms forward at the same time and kick your legs like a mermaid. It is hard to breathe while swimming this stroke.

In swimming, there is a thing called a flip turn. Flip turns are when you turn underwater to continue on to your next lap. Each stroke has a different and detailed flip turn. Also, in competitions you compete in relays. Some different relays consist of: freestyle relays, breaststroke relays, backstroke relays and butterfly relays. There are four laps in a really and four people in a group. Each person does a different stroke. There is also a special kind of relay called an “I am”. In an “I am” there is only one person swimming and they swim all four strokes.

In addition, swimming is also a great workout! Unlike running or playing sports, swimming works all of your muscles. People in rehab tend to take up swimming because it relaxes them and helps them recover. Not only do people in rehab swim, but people all over the world swim. Summer is coming up fast and swimming helps you get, and stay fit. If you do not have a pool or do not know how to swim, lessons take place at many places such as the Aquatic Center, North Oaks Pool, and many other public pools.

As you can see, swimming is a really tough sport and it helps a lot of people in many ways. Swimming is more than just a game of Marco polo. It is a true sport that requires a lot of skill and perseverance!