Swimming with the Family

It’s great to find fun and active ways to spend time together as a family, and swimming is one of the best options for this. It’s something moms and dads can both do, and a really refreshing way to get out and about together, stay healthy and encourage kids to get into sports.

If you don’t already swim regularly as a family there are lots of reasons to start, and here are just a few of them!

It’s been a really exciting year in sports with the Olympics and Paralympics taking the world by storm, so it’s never been easier to feel motivated about hitting the pool. Swimmers like Rebecca Adlington and Tom Daley have been all over the news, inspiring everyone to get involved. So think back over the year of sport and get excited about swimming with your family – or why not make it a new year’s resolution for 2013 to follow in the footsteps of your favorite swimmers from 2012?

Swimming is great exercise and a uniquely energizing sport. It’s ideal for people of all fitness levels and perfect for families because you can easily move between swimming lengths and playing fun games in the pool; building your kids’ strength and coordination all the time.  It also allows parents to spend time with their kids while meeting their own exercise needs. This helps you stay on top of your own health without having to sacrifice any quality time with your kids.

It’s also a way to get young kids excited about sport and exercise, learning that they can have fun and stay healthy at the same time. It’s ideal to instill a love of sports early on with kids, and swimming is a great one – it’s an activity they can easily do with friends and learning to swim is also a real confidence builder.

Swimming is certainly an essential life skill, but luckily it’s a really fun one to take part in, and one which kids can get really enthused about.

If you’re looking for some more inspiration to get started, Speedo UK is currently working to try and encourage more kids into the water with their Learn to Swim competition. The Sea Squad are a group of colorful characters Speedo has created to encourage young kids to get into swimming, and the competition gives your kids the chance to design a new member of the Squad. The winner will see their character brought to life by a professional artist, and they’ll win a pool party with their friends hosted by the one and only Rebecca Adlington! You can read about it on the Speedo site, or on Mumsnet.com. It’s a great initiative that’s well worth having a look at for UK readers.

All you need to start swimming as a family is to find your local pool, get some kit and make a splash! Boys are usually easy to cater for, and there is also plenty of choice for girls swimsuits too – check out the girls speedo page for some lovely examples, including the popular legsuits.

If you are looking for a new way to have loads of family fun, while staying healthy and happy, swimming is the way to go; so let’s dive in. Have you got any ideas for fun pool games to play as a family? Leave a comment below!