Swimming is one of the most fun activities someone can do! We keep saying that, and telling that to everyone willing to listen.
However, we are biased and sometimes due to that factor, it can be hard for people to believe us when we say that swimming is the greatest thing ever.
Well, today we have gathered some mind blowing swimming facts, to prove to you that swimming is awesome subjectively and not only because we love it.
Without further ado, here are some of the most amazing and mind blowing swimming facts that you can find.
There Are More People Incapable Of Swimming Than There Are Swimmer In The World
One of the craziest swimming facts we’ve faced is the fact that estimates show there are around 4 billion people in the world who cannot swim at all.
As far as swimming facts go, the concept that the majority of the world cannot swim is quite a strange one.
For example, only one in three women can swim! This means that only about 33% of all women can swim. These numbers are horrifying.
What is strange though is that men are more often the victim of drowning than women are. Maybe this has something to do with risk taking being more present among men.
Another interesting thing when comparing people who can and cannot swim around the world, is that there seems to be a link between economic prosperity and the percentage of swimmers within a country.
There are many reasons why this is the case but in pure numbers, in a study, participants from high income economies were able to swim with no assistance at 73% of the time.
This goes to show how important and necessary swim lessons are! With such a huge number of people incapable of swimming, you can see why there are so many annual deaths due to drowning.
Again, as far as swimming facts go we find this idea to be very interesting. In our field of work, we see many adults who feel embarrassed due to the fact that they can’t swim.
Yet, at the same time, the majority of people cannot swim. It’s interesting how a minority can set the norm for what is necessary. Or maybe we are just being rational about it, and understand the importance of being able to swim.
Swimming Is A Very Physically Demanding Sport And Is Also Very Healthy For You
Allow us to give you a few swimming facts about how physically demanding swimming actually is and how much it can benefit your health.
Swimming burns more calories per hour than both cycling and/or running.
While swimming you use all your major body muscles.
Swimming has been shown to help regulate sleeping schedules in toddlers.
Swimming is often recommended by doctors as a means of mental health.
Swimming helps regulate your cardiovascular and pulmonary systems.
When it comes to swimming facts and health, the above mentioned ones are just the tip of a very large iceberg.
Combined with proper dieting, swimming is a great tool that anyone willing to lose weight should put into their arsenal.
And just to put into perspective how physically demanding swimming is, we would like to point out that one of the most interesting swimming facts is the fact that swimmers sweat inside the pool.
Another one of the swimming facts that help put into perspective how much of an impact swimming can have to our body, is the fact that professional swimmers can hold their breath for up to 10 minutes.
Swimming Is A Very Entertaining Sport
Okay, of all the swimming facts that we have covered, ‘swimming is a very entertaining sport’ seems to be the least exciting one, right?
Swimming is a relatively popular sport, but the bar of making it big within the swim world is pretty high up!
The number of people who try to make it into the Olympics, in the category of swimming, at any given time is in the thousands! Yet, from that number, only 50 people actually make it!
Speaking of competitive swimming facts, the youngest person to ever compete in a swimming competition is Alzain Tareq. She was only 10 years old when she competed in the World Swimming Championship.
Quite the remarkable feat. It is also extra sweet that this record belongs to a woman, as they were not allowed to compete in the Olympics until the year 1912.
And on the note of history, most records show that the earliest swimming competition was held over 2000 years ago in Japan!
What do you think of our picks for the most mind blowing swimming facts? Have we forgotten to cover some of your favorite swimming facts?
If you came here for the swimming facts, then you might want to stick around and check some of our other blog posts.
