Not only is swimming a lifelong, lifesaving skill, but it is also a core sport that improves the skills and abilities of every athlete who participates in any other sport! Swimming benefits athletes who play:

-Baseball

-Softball

-Football

-Soccer

-Gymnastics

-Hockey

-Basketball

-Lacrosse

-Cheerleading

-Skiing

-Golf

-Tennis

-Volleyball

-Figure Skating

-Track and Field

-Cross Country

-Wrestling

-Dance

-Cycling

Read on to find out how swimming at Goldfish Swim School helps athletes have a GOLDEN experience, no matter the sport:

1. Strengthen Lung Capacity

One of the biggest things athletes learn from swimming more than nearly any other sport is breath control. Little by little, swimmers progress and increase their lung capacity – which in turn means your young athlete will be able to play longer before running out of breath.

Lung capacity benefits athletes because the more exercise you do, the more oxygen your body needs – and the increased lung capacity achieved from swimming allows oxygen to pump through the body and provide energy more efficiently.

This means runners can go farther distances without being winded, cheerleaders can shout effortlessly while performing choreographed routines, cyclists can maintain breath control on longer journeys, and tennis players can coordinate breathing while simultaneously running and returning a serve.

2. Increases Cardio Stamina

The oxygen carried throughout the body gets there by way of the heart pumping it everywhere, so increased cardiovascular stamina remains vital to any athlete. The more efficiently blood can be pumped through your body, the more readily your body can accept it and respond without being pushed over the limit.

Sports where players are moving for lengthy periods of time require intense cardiovascular stamina – which swimming helps to build up. Soccer and lacrosse players who run across a long field, basketball players who run back and forth the court, and hockey players who navigate down the ice while on ice skates all need their hearts to be able to work hard pumping blood and oxygen through their bodies for longer stretches of time.

3. Builds Core Stability

Swimming takes into account building every muscle group and, most importantly, building an athlete’s core stability. Particularly in sports where posture and balance are an integral part of performance, core stability provides an increased opportunity to perform optimally while also preventing injuries.

Dancers and gymnasts require core stability in routines to keep from falling over and maintaining appropriate clearance space from other performers and performance objects. Wrestlers, who use their entire bodies in pinning opponents, benefit from strong core stability to not get pinned down as easily. In addition, golfers use their entire bodies to propel a properly aligned and sufficiently strong swing and benefit from balance control.

4. Builds Muscle Strength

Although swimming is a low-impact exercise, it steadily makes muscles throughout your entire body stronger. All those strides back and forth to the other side of the pool make a growing child’s arms stronger. The leg kicks mean more muscular legs, too. All this leads to extraordinary results in and out of the pool!

Striving for home runs? For baseball and softball players, stronger arms give more power to hits – and more power for running bases more quickly. For football players, it means longer throws and more endurance running down the field faster. Higher jumps and better spikes for volleyball players are a good bonus, too!

5. Increases Total Body Endurance

Since swimming involves all muscle groups, increases breath control and improves cardiovascular stamina, it brings along total body endurance. As every athlete knows, the more all-around in-shape your body is, the better it can perform – and swimming allows athletes to coordinate the entire body.

While every sport athlete benefits from total body endurance, those like skiers and figure skaters realize the importance of the entire body working together simultaneously. Swimming means legs and arms don’t get tired, while breathing and heart rate are still in control as well. That’s something to celebrate!

Bring your Athlete to Goldfish Swim School

Our instructors use integrity, compassion and trust to improve the swimming skills and physical abilities of every student at Goldfish Swim School. Stop in a location near you to sign your little athlete up for group or private swim lessons today! Our WOW! customer service may reel you in, but you’ll find plenty of reasons to love Goldfish Swim School.