August 2003
Nick Ferriola
City of El Paso Parks & Recreation Aquatics Newsletter

• Each year, more people participate in the sport of swimming then any other sport. Swimming is the nation's number one activity because no other sport produces as many lifelong benefits for the individual. It is safe, fun and promotes a healthy, clean, lifestyle.
• The lessons learned in swimming are courage, discipline, diligence, and personal responsibility - to name a few!
• Swimming is one of only a handful of youth sports that has professional coaches teaching young children from the very moment they enter the program.
• Swimming is considered by many Pediatricians and exercise physiologists to be the ideal athletic activity for developing muscular and skeletal growth in children.
• Among competitive sports, swimming is the most injury-free. Swimming eliminates the stress on bones and muscles that comes from running or contact sports.
• Swimming does a better job of facilitating proportional muscle development by using all of the body's major muscle groups. It also enhances coordination and kinesthetic awareness because it uses combinations of complex movements with all parts of the body, leading to excellent grace and fluidity of motion.
• Swimming is one of the most physically demanding & rewarding sports. It develops a high level of aerobic endurance, enhancing cardiovascular fitness while increasing breath.
• The sport of swimming challenges athletes to set and achieve goals. The simple goal of beating the clock makes it easy for even the youngest swimmer to measure his or her progress. As swimmers improve their technique, strength, and endurance, they can watch their times drop and learn to set clearly defined and attainable goals. The practice of setting and achieving goals in swimming is a training ground for skills that will last a lifetime.
• As they learn to overcome their limitations, they gain confidence. As they experience setbacks or disappointments, they learn perseverance. As they work through obstacles, they learn courage. But the most essential lesson gained from setting and achieving goals in swimming is the most essential virtue of human development: hope.