While you watched in awe this summer as Michael Phelps sped through the water at the Olympics, you may have forgotten that swimming is a sport for all ages and abilities. Swimming is a lifelong activity and a life skill everyone should know how to perform. Swimming is also one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise.

Physical benefits of swimming:

• Reduced stress on your joints due to the buoyancy of the water
• Increased flexibility from the wide range of movement needed for each stroke
• Utilizing all muscle groups while constantly stimulating your heart rate.

One physical benefit people often forget is the effect swimming has on your lungs. Swimming helps develop your lung strength and capacity with every breath. When you are breathing on land, it doesn’t take much work for your muscles to inhale and exhale. However, once in the pool the water adds resistance to each breath, forcing the muscles to work harder to expand, strengthening them.  Many people with asthma swim to help them work on breath control and lung strength. Singers and those who present often can find benefit in lung capacity from swimming.

Swimming is also a great activity for your mental health. Swimmers often talk about how they enjoy their ‘alone’ time to clear their mind as they swim back and forth, not having to think too much other than “there’s a wall, turn around.”  Having your head in the water can help with many distractions you might have on the treadmill and really let you focus on yourself. Swimming with friends can also give you the feeling of community and you can meet some new friends in the pool.

When starting a swimming workout routine, set reasonable goals and don’t get frustrated if you think you are in great shape and can only swim for 5 minutes. Being in shape for swimming is different than being in shape for running. Your lungs are working harder and you’re using every muscle group. Try for 20 minutes 2x a week and then increase time and frequency of workouts. There are available workouts to use in the black box on the pool deck with varying distances.  The Recreation Department offers incentive programs year round in the pool to keep you motivated and give you a chance to earn prizes. Swim 2 Spring Break is January 14 – March 8 and Butler 500 is April 1-26.

Swimming laps isn’t the only way to benefit from water activities. The Aquatic Center at the HRC has water volleyball, water basketball, a current channel you can walk with or against, and a hot tub. There are aqua jogger belts available if you want to jog in the water.  For those looking for group exercise, Aqua Power is the water fitness class offered every Thursday for HRC members from 7:15p-8:15p in the spring semester.

Swim lessons are available for adults and youth in group, private, or semi-private formats. Group lessons are great for those that learn better in groups and may need motivation from peers to accomplish tasks. Private lessons are 1 on 1 instruction for those looking to get over a fear of the water, need more focused instruction, or need more flexibility with scheduling. Semi-private lessons are a perfect way to learn with friends and have the scheduling flexibility. The Department of Recreation Swim Lesson information can be found at http://www.butler.edu/hrc/aquatics/swim-lessons/