Enjoying a swim in the pool.
Photo courtesy of SunYoung Chun.
Were you tired of the 40 degree weather this summer? Well, I spent my hot summer really cool. How did I do it? By swimming. Swimming is a great summer sport. If you don’t do it already, here’s why you should.
First, what is swimming? Swimming is using your body’s buoyancy to float while moving forward, overcoming water resistance by kicking. There are four styles of swimming: freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. In freestyle you lift your arms alternately at right angles while kicking your feet up and down. In the breaststroke you open and close both arms and legs like a frog. In the backstroke you lie back, raising both arms perpendicular to the water as you kick your feet up and down. The butterfly makes a streamlined wave, in which you extend your arms horizontal to the water like a butterfly as it comes up.
Swimming has a really positive effect on your body. As it is excellent aerobic exercise, we can burn accumulated fat from the past semester. And not just one area is stimulated. The whole body is used by this exercise. Swimming is also great for rehabilitating parts of your body like the pelvis and shoulder.
If you’re worried about getting wide shoulders from swimming, don’t worry. That only happens when you swim as much as an athlete does.
You can enjoy swimming a variety of ways. For example, you can take lessons from a professional at a sports center. Learning skills like survival swimming is important; that’s lying in the water and staying relaxed while waiting for help to arrive. This is something elementary school students learn to do.
Of course, swimming is something you can enjoy with your friends. There are many water parks and beaches in Korea. Even if you just hang onto a tube and kick yourself forward, you’ll have a happy time and good workout.
So, the next time it’s hot out, don’t just suffer. Get into a pool and stay cool.