Water | Swimming Sports and Recreation

Salt Water Pools

Swimmers know exactly how damaging chlorine can be on the clothing and hair. It can really have some effects on the body such as rougher skin and other problems. This is why many pool manufacturers have started to create what is known as the salt water pool.

A salt water pool is a traditionally swimming pool that is filled with water. The only difference is that instead of having chlorine that is used in the water it uses salt crystals. The natural salt crystals along with the water creates its own chlorine so there is no need to add the chlorine to the pool.

The reason that many people have started to use salt pools instead of chlorine pools is because it is better on the skin, clothing and body. It also offers a more natural swimming experience compared to the chlorine infested pool.

One of the best features of the salt water pool is that it does not require the use of harmful chemicals or other items in it. Instead pool owners can go years without putting chemicals or other items in it. In fact, it is seven years before the pool owner needs to put more salt in the pool. The only thing the pool needs is a pump that will filter in the salt and the water. This will keep the pool fresh and clean and allow everyone to enjoy their pool.

Salt water pools are quickly becoming a growing trend and many many people are turning to it instead of the traditional chlorine pool.

Filed Under: Swim, Swimming Pool Tagged With: Chlorine, Swimming pool, Water

How to Teach Children To Swim

Every parent wants their child to learn to swim. This is especially important if you are active and around water. However, some parents do not know how to properly train their child to swim which could lead to fear of the water and not learning to swim. Here is a look at what you need to keep in mind if you are going to teach your child to swim.

Inner Tubes/Floating Devices. To help get your child comfortable with the water try a floatation device that will allow them to see the water and how it works. Try to encourage them to move around the water and really get a feel for it.

Start Out Slow. Start out slow and in the lower end of the pool so your child can get a feel for the water.

Lay on Their Backs. Many parents use the laying on their back method to help their child. This is where their child lays back and the parent holds them. They will slowly move their hands away from the child so that they are not supporting their child. Before they know it their child will be supporting themselves.

Encourage Movement. It is important that you encourage movement in your child. Tell them to keep kicking their legs and arms. Try to swim along with them and just offer encouragement.

Do Not Use Arm Floats. Arm floats are not recommended for children. Many children do not have the upper body strength to help them learn how to swim with these items. In fact this could hinder the swimming process. Try to avoid arm floats whenever possible.

Filed Under: Swim, Training Tagged With: learn to swim, Swimming lessons, Water

Helping a Chronic Problem in Swimmers

A common problem that almost all swimmers face at some point in time is a condition known as swimmers ear. This is when the ear gets water that is trapped inside it. There can often be a swishing sound or a muffled sound. If the water is left in the ear too long it can result in loss of hearing or infections. If you are experiencing swimmers ear here are some ways you can cure it.

Drops for Draining. Put your head to the side and place a few drops of water into a dropper. Place the drops of water into the ear and quickly turn your head to the side. Wait a few second and do this again. You will try to drain the water out of the ear this way.

Vinegar/Water Solution. Try to put into your ear a solution that is made up of half water and half vinegar. The vinegar should be able to dry and evaporate the water of the ear in no time at all so that you can get the water out.

Sleep with Ear Up. If you sleep with your infected ear up the gravity of the earth will tug on the water and could loosen it up so that your water will drain.

OTC Eardrops. There are over the counter antiseptic eardrops that are specifically designed for swimmers ear. Try to put those into the ear and see if it will help clear up the ear and water.

Hair Dryer. You can try to dry up the water using the low setting of the hair dryer. This has not been successful in a lot of people but it could be worth a try to try this method.

Filed Under: Swim, Swimming Tagged With: Ear, Otitis externa, Water

Swimming as a medium of relaxing

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Swimming is a water sport, a great form of exercise and a great way to relax. Swimming helps a person to relax and stay healthy as well. It’s a great form of exercise. Swimming helps person to forget all his tensions and relax. It helps to reduce a lot of weight and is a great form of exercise as well. Swimming is perused by different people for different purposes. Some swim for health other swim for while few others swim for actually having loads of fun. Water is a great form of relaxing. There are many water based recreation parks all around the world. People enjoy swimming and other water and aqua sports, the biggest proof of this is the amount of foot fall the recreation parks based on water sports draw.The great number of foot fall proves that people swim not only for health but also for relaxing and fun. Water is a natural soother, there is nothing like water to soothe a person’s mind and soul. Therefore swimming takes care of everything, health, fun, and with all these provides relaxation to body and soul. People visit foreign lands and beaches for having fun across the seas and oceans. The beaches and places near the sea shores attract huge number of tourists from all around the world. People indulge in fun activities while swimming. It’s good for health, makes a person relieved from all the worldly tensions of the world, if not permanently for some time at the least. Swimming helps to tone one’s body. If a person takes out some time to swim daily he might just end up losing a lot of weight looking fresh and actually having some fun as way. Swimming is a very good activity and if adapted in one’s daily life would sure reap huge benefits on personal level to the person.

Filed Under: Swim, Swimming, Swimming Pool Tagged With: Health, Human swimming, Physical exercise, Swimming, Swimming pool, Water, Water aerobics

Swim in the me time

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Today’s life has become very complicated and busy. People are so occupied in their lives that they hardly get time for themselves, but actually in these times of tension and hard work it’s more important to have a separate time for one self. It is very important for people to take out a me time when people can actually do what they love or at the least something for their mind and body. Swimming and aqua sports are the best activities for the so called me time. Swimming is ideal for health and mind. Swimming despite of being a health activity is also a great way to chill. Swimming is a great way of revitalising one’s body and soul. Instead of getting tired one gets refreshed by swimming. One can actually indulge in swimming when one is really tired. Water soothes the tired body and refreshes a person. With all the relaxation and calm swimming provides the fun part is it is good for our health as well. People go to gym and spend to lose weight. Swimming is the ideal combination of working out and having fun. Swimming soothes out a person and indulging in water sports revitalises the mind and soul. Water is the actual revitalising solution and thus is swimming. People who do not know swimming can just indulge in playful activities in water to freshen themselves up. Swimming is a great sport and a great way of enjoying one self. Few people follow swimming as a passion. This passion does not cost much and actually comes with a lot of benefits. Swimming has no specified or limited age group and can almost pursue by anyone who is healthy in terms of body and mind. So the next time one feels too much burden on his shoulder, it’s the me time by swimming.

Filed Under: Swim, Swimming, Swimming Pool Tagged With: Health, Physical exercise, Sport, Swimming, Swimming and Diving, Water, Water Sports

Taking Your Water Workout out of the Pool

: Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Once you’ve mastered laps at the swimming pool, you may be interested in trying out your skills at a lake, or even the ocean. Both of these environments are substantially different than that available in the pool. While most pools are chlorine-rich environments — evidenced by the strong odor on your body and clothing following a pool workout — lakes and oceans offer their own scents. Obviously, in a local lake, there are living things sharing the water with you as you work on your freestyle stroke. Turtles, fish and birds all populate the vicinity, and you’re likely to occasionally encounter these creatures during your swim. It can be unnerving for a lake-swimming neophyte to be swimming along and to suddenly feel a fish’s fin brush against their leg.

Reminiscent of a scene from Jaws, the sensation can cause the novice to stop swimming and to possibly begin to flounder a bit, flapping their arms as their brain registers that something foreign has touched them. With a little imagination, they can begin to picture it as a very large, unidentifiable creature. This doesn’t help matters any. It’s best to stay calm and to try your best to ignore the other creatures in the water with you. They’re merely curious, and coming to investigate what to them is a strange creature in the water!

Ocean swimming presents its own trials. If you’ve come to the coast from Denver apartments, you’re likely not familiar with the scene. Oceans are filled with salt water, which inevitably gets into the swimmer’s mouth. Over the duration of a workout, the salt dries their mouth, creating a pretty intense thirst. It’s necessary to bring bottled water in some sort of container to keep hydration flowing during any length of salt water workout. That, and ignoring the larger, seemingly even more curious fish that come by can be a real challenge!

Filed Under: Swimming, Swimming Pool Tagged With: Denver, Swimming pool, Water

The various forms of swimming

: Image by wisze via Flickr

Swimming is a great sport. It’s an internationally recognized sport. Swimming is a great activity for mind, body and soul. Swimming helps one to stay fit and healthy. Swimming is a great form of exercise and a great way to relax as well. People swim for many purposes, for health, for fun, for sports or even may be the passion for swimming. Swimming can be of many forms, that is swimming can be done in various styles. These ways of swimming have a specific name based on either the origin of the style or the way the style is followed while swimming. Among the most common ways of swimming free style are the simplest and the most common one. This form is the first way of swimming a beginner is taught when he first learns swimming. Swimming can be of various styles, among the few some are breath stroke, the butterfly stroke, the underwater and the side stroke, the back stroke etc. all of these and are more named after the form in which they are practiced. Different forms of swimming require different forms of strength and stamina. The free style is the basic form of swimming that is practiced at all levels. The people first learning the swimming as a sport get to learn floating, free style and backstrokes. After these the learning progresses to breath stroke, butterfly stroke and side stroke etc. in the international games there are coordination contests, alignment contests and other water activities. There are diving and under water swimming contests as well. The underwater swimming involves swimming under the water as in being not visible on the surface of the water. This act requires a lot of stamina as in this one cannot breathe until that person reappears on the surface. Learning the different forms is sure fun.

Filed Under: Swim, Swimming, Swimming Pool Tagged With: Butterfly stroke, Learning, Sport, Stroke, Swimming, Swimming and Diving, Water, Water Sports

Basic Back Stroke

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For swimming long distances without tiring the backstroke might be the most effective manner to propel through the water. The basic backstroke is a far more effective way to move around the water than sculling, but it also is a more complex set of motions. Sculling is a continuous and tiring motion with the basic backstroke provide swimmer with a powerful and restful motion. Once a backstroke has been established inertia will help to carry the swimmer through the water.

The basic backstroke motion propels swimmers through the water at considerable speed and incorporates a stride that allows for moment of rest. Some exhausted swimmers have been able to rely on the basic backstroke motion when fatigue prevented them from using any other stroke.

The basic or elementary backstroke position starts with a back float. With finger extended swimmers should bring their hands to their shoulders. Arms should them extend out in a position that looks resemble a crucifix position. With arms at shoulder level, swimmers should them pull their arms to their side to push the water and propel their bodies.

The motion can be perfected by remembering to slide thumbs all the way to the shoulders in the beginning of a rotation. Hands and arms should be just under the surface of the water and pulls should be long and powerful. Swimmers should stop and glide after each stroke and remember to keep their hips up. The ease of this motion makes it ideal for long distances. Once mastered as swimmer could easily swim for miles with minimal effort. The key is to build up endurance and confidence prior to attempting a long distance swim.

In an 25-meter pool eight lengths equals 1/8 of a mile. For a swimmer to reach the mile mark it means going 64 lengths.

Filed Under: Sports, Swimming Tagged With: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Freestyle swimming, Health, Stroke, Swimming, Swimming stroke, Water

Simple Water Locomotion

By breathing calmly, quickly and deeply humans have the natural ability to remain at the surface of a body of water. From their swimming is as easy as moving around. Perhaps the simplest way to achieve motion for novice swimmers while keeping their head above water is a technique known as sculling. Sculling is an arm and hand motion that propels swimmers through water from a back float position. Sculling is also a way to keep floaters’ faces above water if the water is choppy or the swimmer is not naturally buoyant.

Sculling is the first propulsive move for many newbies. It is also the basis of synchronized swimming moves. From the back float position sculling can be easily achieved by rotating the heels of submerged hands back and forth. The motion is similar to polishing a car. From this position legs and feet can then be added to add propulsion, balance and support. A basic stroke is a leg kick which occur by bending the knee and alternating kicks between legs. A bike motion kick can also be used, which copies the motion of pedaling a bicycle. Proper technique when using either of these approaches required keeping feet and knees under the surface of the water. Ankles should be hooked when moving up and foot should be pointed when moving down so that the soles of feet can be used to push the water. Not splashing is more important than anything else, because breaking the surface of the water will damage both propulsion and support.

Once a swimmer has these techniques down the basics of back stroke have been learned. For beginners who are not comfortable combining movement with a back float proper form can be learned by adding a kickboard as a sort of aquatic training wheels. Once the floating and kicking without support have been mastered a swimmer is ready to as the arm pull to the backstroke.

Filed Under: Sports, Swimming Tagged With: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Environment, Freestyle swimming, Stroke, Swimming, Water, Water Resources

Back Float

: Image by pnoeric via Flickr

Even the most complex swimming stroke involves only two skills: floating and adding propulsion to get a swimmer to move. The first step might be the most frightening for novices.

Floating is the basis of all swimming, and it should be easy for most people to master with a little practice. For the vast majority of people holding a full breath makes it impossible to sink. Human bodies are inherently buoyant, which means that it is not a skill that needs to be learned. Three elements control buoyancy: breath control, body position and relaxation. Relaxation might be the key in the beginning because even though human bodies float a large percentage of a person’s body will still be submerged in the water. Panicking while attempting to keep one’s head above water could result in a failure to float.

The back float is one of the easiest and most important skills for a swimmer to learn. It allows a person to rest and breathe in deep water. A back float requires almost no effort and it may save lives in the event of an accident on open water. The back float is also important when trying to learn one of several strokes that require swimmers to be on their backs.

A proper back float has a swimmer lying down in the water so that his or her ears are submerged. When holding steady in the water it is time to practice breathing techniques. Take short quick breathes through the mouth, while holding in breath for periods.

A full back float is achieved when a swimmer is able to extend his or her arms above the head. The feet will rise as the arm move up and a simple and potentially life saving technique has been learned. Rather than treading water for hours the back float can keep people breathing and rested while waiting for help to arrive.

Filed Under: Sports, Swimming Tagged With: Business, Learning, Proprioception, Shopping, Swimming (sport), Swimming pool, Treading water, Water