Swimming is the propulsion of the body through water by combined arm and leg motions and the natural flotation of the body. Some people prefer to swim in a river, lake, ocean or sea while others prefer to swim in a pool.

The closer you are to the surface of a body of water, the harder it is to maneuver. This is because water is more still underneath.

Swimming is always among the top public recreational activities around the world. And recreational swimming is generally used for exercise and relaxation. Because swimming is known as one of the most relaxing activities, as water is known to calm us and can also help to reduce stress.

Benjamin Franklin invented swimming flippers and fins as swimming aids to help boost swimming performance for new and intermediary swimmers. The first prototype of goggles was made using tortoise shells. The jury is still out on how effective these were.

Swimming as an exercise is popular as an all-around body developer and is particularly useful in therapy and as exercise for physically handicapped persons. Swimming is the perfect exercise. Swimming works just about every major muscle in the body at the same time,

Different styles of swimming (or ways of maneuvering the human body) are referred to as a stroke. Currently, there are four types of strokes or official swimming styles. These strokes comprise of freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke.

Swimming builds cardiorespiratory fitness. Swimming improves endurance. In one study of sedentary middle-aged men and women who did swim training for 12 weeks, maximal oxygen consumption improved 10% and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat which indicates heart strength) improved as much as 18%. Swimming builds cardiorespiratory fitness.

Swimming improves endurance. In one study of sedentary middle-aged men and women who did swim training for 12 weeks, maximal oxygen consumption improved 10% and stroke volume (the amount of blood pumped with each beat which indicates heart strength) improved as much as 18%. Swimming is a phenomenal ally for losing weight and burning calories.

While we may be used to wearing and seeing ‘barely there’ swimsuit fashions in today’s day and age, the ‘skin is in’ reality we now live in did not become a thing until 1935 and 1946 respectively. In 1935, the first set of topless swimsuits for males were worn in America, while the first bikini was invented in 1946, in Paris.