Manta Ray Aquatics Parent Page

 

Why Swim?

 

Swimming is considered the ideal activity for developing muscular and skeletal growth by many physicians and pediatricians.  Why do doctors like it so much?  

 

  • Swimming develops high quality aerobic endurance, the most important key to physical fitness.  In other sports an hour of practice may yield as little as 10 minutes of meaningful exercise.  Age group swimming teams use every precious minute of practice time developing fitness and teaching skills.
  • Swimming does a better job in proportional muscular development by using all the body’s major muscle groups.  No other sport does this well.
  • Swimming enhances children’s natural flexibility (at a time when they ordinarily begin to lose it) by exercising all of their major joints through a full range of motion.
  • Swimming helps develop superior coordination because it requires combinations of complex movement of all parts of the body, enhancing harmonious muscle function, grace, and fluidity of movement.
  • Swimming is the most injury-free of all children's sports.
  • Swimming is a sport that will bring kids fitness and enjoyment for life.  Participants in Master’s Swimming programs are still training and racing well into their 80’s.

 

In addition to physical development, children can develop greater intellectual competence by participating in a guided program of physical activity.  Learning and using swimming skills engages the thinking processes.  As they learn new techniques, children must develop and plan movement sequences.  They improve exploring new ideas.  They learn that greater progress results from using their creative talents.  Self-expression can be just as much physical as intellectual.  Finally their accomplishments in learning and using new skills contribute to a stronger self image.

 

Swimming is a self-achievement activity.  There is only one person in the water in a given lane in any race.  The responsibility for performance ultimately lies with the individual.  How well the individual has prepared physically and mentally to a large degree determines the performance level.