Leisure Kicks - The essencial sport and leisure guide

Swimming is a king among sports. It burns tons of calories, provides a full-body workout, is easy on your joints and also fiercely competitive. Swimming is also a life skill, considered an even lifesaving one to have. From toddlers having their first splash to serious length lovers – swimming is an accessible sport enjoyed by all ages, body types and levels of mobility. Swimming is widely believed to be one of the best all-round aerobic activities, as it builds up cardio and muscle strength, and just 30 minutes or more in the pool at least once a week can provide significant health benefits.  It’s therapeutic, fun and is low-impact enough to have an extremely low rate of injury – you can’t go wrong!

In competitive swimming there are four different strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and front crawl (a stroke also known as freestyle). All are competed over the 50m, 100m, and 200m distance, while freestyle is also competed at the 400m, 800m and 1500m distances. Individual medleys are also competed at 200m and 400m distances. These include all four strokes in equal amounts, beginning with butterfly and ending with freestyle. Aside from the strokes themselves, other essential skills for competitive swimmers to learn include diving from blocks and efficient turns at the walls, including flip turns in freestyle and backstroke events.  There are also open water events swum in large bodies of water and any stroke can be performed.

Choose your sport

Why your child needs to learn to swim – ASA’s campaign