Swimming Facts That Will Excite You
From swimming’s historical past to the records of our bodies function in the ocean, here are a few interesting swimming facts that will make you take up this activity sooner rather than later!
Swimming was once the main way of life. All humans interact with water, whether for recreation or hunting. Swimming dates back, people have been swimming for centuries, becoming an important and popular sport in recent times.
Just like many people like flying, most also find freedom in the water. This swimming story goes beyond the basics to the intriguing and strangely interesting.
Fact: Swimmers Use Every Muscle Group In Their Body
Swimming exercises target major muscles of the body, including the arms, chest, back, and legs.
The tricep muscle is the muscle behind your arm. It helps you perform the final pull and allows for an incline to the hipbone to be pushed. It allows helps build up optimum stroke speed.
Furthermore, swimming burns more calories than any other physical activity out there.
For instance, swimming for 60 minutes can help you burn around 784 calories, while biking burns only 483. Compared to biking for the same time, that’s a major increase in calorie burn.
Fact: The world record for longest breath-hold is more than twenty minutes
Budimir ObatŠobat broke the record for the longest breath-hold voluntarily for this competitive sport on March 27, 2021, with an astounding period of 24 minutes, 37.36 seconds.
Fact: Freedivers don’t use oxygen tanks
Free diving swimming is one of the most intense sports where the freedivers instead of using oxygen tanks, use only oxygen from their lung. Impressive!
Fact: Swimming is a good workout for delicate people
Because swimming is an easy exercise with minimal impact, this activity is good for people with delicate skin.
These include pregnancy and other limitations, e.g., a limitation on age and physical limitations.
Fact: Swimmers sweat underwater
Yeah, you heard me! Sweating acts as a way of cooling down a body. During intense workouts, your muscles may sweat underwater. Sadly this is barely noticeable for swimmers, as water evaporates from them.
However, you can rest assured that swimmers do sweat underwater. It’s just that we cannot see it with the naked eye, as the water around their body masks it completely.
Fact: The majority of Americans are unable to swim
According to the American Red Cross survey conducted in 2014 more than half of the American population did not know how to swim.
The study states that 56 percent of Americans can perform the five fundamental swimming techniques and 33 percent of African Americans reported understanding the five fundamental swimming techniques.
Fact: You can take 9400 baths with all the water in an Olympic-sized pool
Olympic-sized pools can hold around 60,000 gallons. Typically, these Olympic swimming pools are about 164ft long, 82ft wide, and 6ft deep. For comparison’s sake, your home’s bathtub can only hold around 80 gallons of water.
Now imagine this: if you can take 12 baths in 80 gallons of water, then an Olympic swimming pool containing 60,000 gallons of water will allow you to take 9400 baths! This is massive, isn’t it?
Fact: More than 4 billion people can’t swim
The world’s population has not taken swim lessons and has no swimming skills, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that people who drown don’t know how to swim properly.
Therefore, swimming can be a useful life skill, especially if you live in an area with a high chance of heavy rains, floods, and thunderstorms.
Fact: Martin Strel swam the entire Amazon River
Martin Strel was the first-ever man to swim the entire length of the Amazon River. It was reported that he swam a total of 3200 miles, which lasted for 66 days. He swam 10 hours daily!
However, this feat is so incredible because Martin had to navigate the dangers brought onto him by the Amazon River.
In fact, the dangerous marine life as well as the strong currents made this swim even more life-threatening than it already was.
Fact: The longest distance swam in the open sea is more than 200 kilometers
Veljku Rogoi of Croatia swam 225km without any flipper. He crossed over Adriatic from Gragnano to Riccione on 27 August 2006. The journey lasted 45 hours. Must be passionate enough!
Fact: The youngest swimming champion is ten years old
The 10-year-old swimming enthusiast. Bahrainian Alzain Tareq became the world’s youngest competitive swimmer in the history of swimming. She participates in numerous swimming races and swimming competitions.
Competing against others twice her age, she finished her 50-meter butterfly meet in 41.13 seconds.
Fact: Swimming teams follow intense training schedules
Top swimming teams have rigid training schedules. They typically walk about 20 km daily and practice breath-holding along with proper training.
Fact: Swimmers don’t shave just to show
According to studies, shaving increases skin’s sensitivity to water. Doing so enables swimmers to “feel the water” more effectively to modify their stroke. This is why professional swimmers shave.
Although it may sound naive it was also found to make swimming more aerodynamic. After all, the ability to glide smoothly across water helps professional swimmers gain some advantage over their competitors.
Fact: All Professional swimmers wear goggles
All competitive swimming professionals wear swimming goggles these days. The goggles are designed to keep pools of chlorine and ocean salt from escaping from the swimmers’ eyes.
After all, the chlorine and salt found in the ocean of a swimming pool could damage swimmers’ eyes and hinder their performance. Hence, swimming goggles are necessary.
Furthermore, swimming goggles help improve swimmers’ visibility underwater, allowing them to be aware of their surroundings when participating in underwater ac
Frequently Asked Questions
What should be done to stay motivated for swimming?
There are multiple ways to gain motivation, a few of them are listed below:
- Join a swimming community where you can enter competitive swimming to keep you on your A-game during swimming.
- Establish temporary goals, and work hard to attain them.
- Concentrate on swimming only in swimming pools. Rest of the time, Enjoy and have fun.
- Change the exercise every week. Plan a night of workouts.
- Publish the goals.
- Create a long-term learning plan.
- Hire a coach to keep you on your toes while swimming.
What are 4 general tips for swimming?
List of best swimming tips for beginners:
- Glide for warmth. Never swim in a water bath for long periods of time before your body is hot enough.
- Try to breathe properly.
- Check pool hours. Take care of it too!
- Pick the right equipment.
- Buy an envelope with padded sleeves.
- Dress in a lined swimsuit.
How do I inspire my child to swim?
Allow them to swim themselves and never critique their performance. Furthermore, take the child’s responsibility in the swimming pool for their lessons. Let him enjoy it all.
After all, having fun in the swimming pool will help your child develop an interest in this sport.
What should be said to motivate a swimmer?
You can inspire swimmers by saying the following quotes;
1. “Nothing can be accomplished without you” stated Pablo Picasso
2. “I love to swim, Swimming teaches meditation. It is your best friend” mentioned Alexandr Popov.
The Final Words
Take the leap and jump in the pool if you want to try something new or are just starting a workout regimen. After all, this physical activity can benefit your soul, mind, and body.
That said, try to learn the fundamentals of swimming before jumping in your local pool. However, once you’ve mastered the basics, Try swimming laps for 20 to 40 minutes at a tempo that keeps your heart rate going.
Furthermore, don’t forget to drink plenty of water in between swimming races or laps. But, most importantly, always remember to have fun: This is what swimming is all about!