Swimming and the heart: How can swimming make a child’s heart stronger?

Children who start spending time in the water and swim at an early age have a stronger cardiovascular system. Their heart is “bigger” and stronger. How? The heart, as any other muscle in our body, if adequately and continually trained, becomes stronger, resistant to challenges children and families face daily. Different sports have a different impact on our body and our biggest muscle – HEART. Swimming simply boosts the function of our heart and improves the character and emotions in children and the entire family. This is why this story is about swimming and the HEART it has.

On the second day after his birth, the boy had his heart examined by a neonatologist. A doubtful expression on the face of the doctor spoke more than words. He left the maternity room and fifteen minutes later got back with three of his colleagues. They were whispering and the boy’s mother started feeling uneasy, especially as she wasn’t getting any information from the doctor until the next morning. Ealy next day, there was a new baby visit. The doctor approached the

mother and said: “We can hear your baby’s heart clearly now”.

What happened?

When babies are born, they may have a heart murmur, which may disappear after a couple of days, but it can also stay. The doctor told the mom that she should take the boy, once he grows up a bit, to swimming! She felt relived as she knew his daddy was 365 days a year in the pool. The boy has been in the water swimming from the age of four months. Today, he is turning five and he’s still swimming. Every time he jumps into the pool, his heart is heard loud and clear. The murmur has disappeared. How do I know all this? The baby is my son.

Can swimming protect a child’s heart?

Yes, swimming definitely protects children’s heart. The more a child swims the stronger the heart he/she will have and the better the blood pressure will be. Here I am not talking about trainings and preparations for children to become big swimmers one day, but about the continuity in swimming starting from the child’s earliest age.

Why is swimming one of the healthiest activities for a child’s heart?

A swimming heart is always in a good shape… the more one swims, the faster the heart beats and the better oxygen supply is… As an aerobic activity, swimming improves the heart rate and encourages the blood pumping function. Swimming is good for blood vessels, and it reduces the risk of high blood pressure. As doctors usually say – half an hour of swimming, at least once a week, can minimize the risk of a stroke. Swimming also keeps children’s arteries in a good shape.

Why is a child’s heart stronger when the child swims?

Imagine swimming as one big heart. A fragile one, nourishing a child’s body with knowledge, while giving him/her strong emotions at the same time. This is why swimming with such a heart is more intensive, and the child’s heart thus becomes stronger and healthier.

A child’s heart, if the child swims regularly, has fewer “bottlenecks”, obstacles, inefficiencies and frustrations. Swimming eliminates anxiety in the child’s heart, giving him/her energy necessary for other adventures.

At that heart rate his heart had more energy and was much stronger… Apart from a fast heartbeat which made his trainings and competitions difficult, he succeeded in winning a gold medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio when he was only 18 years old. He was swimming 100m freestyle. Today, after the third heart surgery (supraventricular tachycardia) Kyle Chalmers

swims quite normally, getting ready for defending his position in the Olympics in Tokyo!

Slow but thorough swimming can mend a “broken” heart and wash “the sludge” away. Even if the “scars” remain, they won’t be deep and painful.

Making your heart strong with swimming is not luxury but a precondition of making the heart of your child strong enough.

Swimming makes the heart of a child strong, and also the heart of the entire family.

Sidebar:

Swimming minimizes the risk of cardiovascular diseases

Despite scarce research, swimming can be tolerated well in patients with stable hears condition. What is vital is that swimming can reduce the risk of serious heart diseases and it is believed to be an efficient tool in modifying cardiovascular risk factors. Having swimming as a tool for reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases has been a relatively new area, but the research has already confirmed the positive effects swimming has for hypertension, vascular function, lipid profiles and insulin sensitivity. The role of swimming in the heart rehabilitation programmes is quite promising and suggests that swimming can be a useful way for keeping the patients healthy and physically active.

How has swimming saved my daddy’s heart?

You know that moment when you have loads of things to finish in one day, along with all the wishes and requests waiting for you, and there is a moment you feel everything just gathering up in your chest and you feel like your head will explode. A well-known and quite unpleasant feeling.. I also had it, and my HEART was about to explode. I didn’t feel like doing anything at the moment, and I knew I had to regain my strength and make my heart stronger, for my own sake and for the sake of my family. What did I do? I swam. Yes, twice a week for myself and for my heart. This brought me peace, and also strength to my heart and my family.