Swimming is a CURE for children and their family
Swimming is a CURE for children and their family. Children who swim regularly boost their thoughts, heart, and body, but… Illness is not a barrier for someone to swim. On the contrary. Water is there for everyone. When it comes to general health, water has no limits ... With swimming, every heart becomes stronger, the soul turns softer, an injury becomes easier to handle, the pain is less intense, the movement is safer, the lungs grow stronger, and the blood sugar is tolerable. Yes. Swimming has a role of prevention for the whole body of every child.
Swimming as prevention, YES. Swimming as a cure, YES. Swimming as part of a therapy, YES. Swimming as part of a rehabilitation, YES. Swimming as a lifestyle, YES. Swimming from an early age, YES. Swimming as part of childhood, YES. Swimming as growing up, YES. Swimming as growing mature, YES. Swimming as part of the family, YES. Swimming as a good habit, YES. Swimming as a daily energy boost, YES.
Below are some of the examples from my experience showing that swimming for children is a CURE or part of a therapy.
Is swimming a limited experience for children with breathing problems or asthma?
When it comes to asthma, swimming is recommended for both children and the elderly. Because swimming develops the chest and intercostal muscles, which play an extremely important role in breathing, and thus increases the capacity of the lungs, as they become stronger. Today, there are more and more children with breathing issues jumping into the pool, leaving their asthma inhalers aside. Children in the water do not have masks that squeeze them. While swimming, children breathe with their lungs full with air and they love it.
- A couple of years ago, parents brought a six-year-old girl diagnosed with asthma to the pool. She wanted to, and she needed to swim. With moderate trainings, she managed to swim a length of 25m, and then take a break and rest for a while. We went on stroke by stroke, technique by technique. She liked the breaststroke and backstroke swimming techniques the most. Dolphin style is not recommended for those suffering from asthma, especially for beginners, because it is technically demanding, as well as crawl, which can cause shortness of breath due to improper breathing. After four years of continuous swimming of 45 minutes twice a week, the girl no longer brought the inhaler to the pool, and her asthma was reduced to a minimum, because she managed to control it when it occurred. That is why she still swims today, and surprisingly she started winning medals at school competitions.
A large number of top swimmers decided to jump into the pool because they used to have lung issues. Among them are Ian Thorpe, Mark Spitz, but also Gary Hall. As a 12-year-old boy, he was diagnosed with asthma. He started swimming then and hasn’t stopped ever since. Today, he is a legend of the 50m crawl swimming, and a three-time participant in the Olympic Games, of which he was a champion twice in a row and once he was the second.
Can children who suffer from diabetes swim?
Swimming is a boon for people suffering from diabetes. Swimming is a great aerobic exercise for children with diabetes. When it comes to them, swimming helps them stabilise the heart rate, blood vessels, it strengthens the respiratory muscles and increases the capacity of their lungs.
- Three sisters. Three swimmers. They have been swimming since they were five. Their energy and smile always echoed in the pool, and outside. However, the middle one got tired at some point. She did not give up, but she just lost the energy. She didn't have the strength to swim as usually. I noticed that, and so did her parents. After doing the tests, she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of ten.
She started receiving a therapy. At first, she did not swim, until the therapy stabilised, and until the doctor who monitored her condition approved it. "She needs swimming. Her muscles need glucose to be active. Swimming lowers her blood sugar levels. She can go and swim… ” That's how it was. With the support of her parents, the approval of the doctor, my supervision by the pool, she entered the water, and there she was swimming again.
She started wearing a "bracelet" on her arm, on her upper arm, which read her blood sugar level during our trainings, so that we could all follow her condition in the water and around it. She regulated her diet and swam for an hour three times a week. Of course, we made appropriate breaks after a certain time of swimming or exercising. Day by day, her energy and smile got back to the pool. Today, she swims regularly with her two sisters and loves the water.
A swimmer was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 25. He kept on swimming. Under the supervision of a physician, Gary Hall Jr. won eight swimming medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.
Does swimming protect a child's heart?
Yes, swimming definitely protects a child's heart. The more a child swims, the stronger his or her heart will be and the more stable the blood pressure will be. Here I’m not talking about the training and preparation of children for big swimming competitions, but the continuity in swimming from the child's earliest age.
- When he was born, the doctors heard a murmur around his heart. The next day the murmur was gone. When they are born, babies may have a heart murmur, which normally disappears in the first days after birth, however, it happens that it stays with some children. The doctor advised the boy’s mother to take him to swimming as soon as the boy was old enough! She was relieved as she knew that his dad was in the pool for 365 days a year. The boy has been in the water since he was four months old, swimming. Today, he is near to the age of six and still swims and enjoys the water. Every time he jumps into the pool his heart beats loud and clear. The murmur never returned.
How can swimming help children have a healthy spine?
The wrong sport at the wrong time can have a negative impact on the proper growth and development of the child, and thus on the spine. In addition to corrective gymnastics, swimming is one of the sports that evenly engages all the spine muscles. Swimming as a prevention is a boon for the health of the spine, not only in young children, but in everyone.
- At the age of nine, he was diagnosed with scoliosis. Thanks to swimming as part of his therapy and the best sport for his health, and with regular exercise, he avoided surgery. Since then, he has been in the pool swimming three times a week. Today, after four decades of recreational swimming, he can hardly imagine his life without jumping into the pool.
Because it PUTS a smile on their face. Because it TEACHES them how to live. Because with every breath in the water, they breathe in HEALTH. Because swimming CONNECTS, and we don't need bridges. Because water always SUPPORTS us if we want to be friends with it.
Why is swimming a CURE for children and their families?
One great man said, "A day without laughter is a day wasted!" (Charlie Chaplin)
SMILE is the strongest cure and prevention of all diseases, and if it is followed by positive emotions in the water and around it, it is more than twice as effective for us, our child and the whole family!
Giving up on swimming is not an option, YES.
Swimming for a healthy life, YES.
Swimming for children, and the entire family around a year, YES.
Swimming will do a lot for you and your general health, if you are persistent and have trust in it.
Life is more beautiful when you’re swimming!
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