Summer League Swimming
Around the country, different regions are encountering a variety of lockdowns and limitations due to Covid-19. These limitations mean the cancellation of summer swimming for some, delayed seasons for others and – for a lucky few – no affect at all. Here is a look at why summer swimming is such a positive experience.
By Abigail Sheridan, Swimming World College Intern.
During the school year, kids are swamped with things to do. School, sports, activities, friends… there’s never a dull moment. But in the summer, it’s easy for kids to get bored. Sometimes they pass the hours in daycare, at summer camps, or at home watching TV.
One way to stay busy and create lifelong memories is to join a summer swim league. Summer league swimming has the power to shape kids into who they are and provide a healthy outlet for physical activity. While the benefits of swimming on a summer league team are innumerable, here are four distinct advantages.
1. Swimming is great exercise and teaches young swimmers
Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan
Exercise is arguably the most obvious advantage of joining a swim team. Kids spending all day at home with a full fridge and video games is a recipe for disaster, even with a parent or babysitter to supervise. This is a way to get out of the house and get moving. Swimming is a workout for the entire body and a way to stay happy and healthy. Swimming can be fun for children who don’t typically enjoy exercise – it doesn’t involve running, jumping, throwing, catching, swinging, hitting, or getting hot and sweaty.
For younger swimmers, summer swimming provides the opportunity to be introduced to new strokes, in addition to freestyle. Swimmers can work on their technique and mechanics and hone the skills they already possess.
2. It teaches necessary social skills.
Photo Courtesy:Colin Sheridan
Besides the actual swimming, the biggest part of being on a swim team is the social aspect. Joining a team forces a bond among its members, and there’s no stronger bond than one between teammates who work hard together. When they’re hanging around the pool after practice, they can play with these friends and feel confident around the water.
Parents – wouldn’t you love it if your kids let you spend time alone at the pool, in the sun or in the shade, while they played with their new friends? The swimmers of a summer league team bond over the thrill of the last race of the night, just after the sky fills with the colors of a July sunset. They bond over the crazy team activity and the fun they have splashing around in the water at practice.
3. Summer league expects good sportsmanship.
Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan
It’s easy to hate or trash talk another team until you come face to face with them and see that they’re a group of actual kids too. The opposing team might include your silliest school friend, a soccer teammate, or even your cousin. While the competition can be healthy, it’s more important to treat other teams with respect.
Possibly the best part of being a swimmer is talking to an opponent behind the blocks – you might even end up becoming best friends! Sophie Sheridan, a Kaybrook Green Hills Swim Club summer-leaguer of 8 years, tells the story of how making friends with opponents at league meets benefited in the end. She went to a swim camp expecting not to know a single person there, but ended up realizing that she already had friends from other teams with whom she would chatter behind the blocks.
Summer league swimming teaches good sportsmanship to even the most competitive people. The expectation that everyone stays in the water until the last swimmer has finished and shakes hands with those in the next lane is established in even the youngest age groups.
4. Drowning actually happens – but it is preventable.
Photo Courtesy: Maria Hendershot
In the summer, hanging out at the pool is a favorite activity for many. Kids love the water – splashing, jumping, racing, and so much more. Beach trips are a staple of the summers for many. Some families even have pools in their backyards. Water is everywhere in everyday life, and the average of ten deaths from drowning per day in the United States is not going to be reduced until significant steps are taken.
Drowning can happen so fast, even under supervision from adults and lifeguards. By taking swim lessons and joining a swim team at a young age, kids learn water safety and proper swimming techniques to make sure they are not one of the 1,000 children who die each year from drowning.
All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
This article is spot on!
Jarno Marichal ?
Nick Martone
Great job
You hit the nail on the head; great article!
I always say summer league is where you learn to love the life of swim.