When I was six years old, I taught myself how to swim and that sent me on a journey that led me to where I am today. I turned my hobby into a career, and it has been amazing. Along the way, I learned water safety is a serious topic for everyone to know. In particular, why learning to swim is essential to life

So, here it is:

5 Reasons Why Swim Lessons Are Important

Water is fun but it can be dangerous. We live in a state where it’s warm (who am I kidding? HOT) nine out of twelve months of the year. Most states go through four seasons but we all know that doesn’t happen in Texas.

And for that reason, there are pools everywhere. Not just pools but lakes, rivers, quarries, creeks, and the ocean. There are so many bodies of water in Texas. In fact, we have over 3,300 miles of coastline in this state. That’s a lot of beaches to go to!

With that being said, there’s lots of recreational swimming to do and you have to know how to swim if you really want to enjoy it! Learning how to swim and be water safe can help you be aware of your surroundings and know what to do in case of an accident.

In my previous post, we discussed how often drowning happens. Learning to swim is a way to change those statistics and decrease the risks associated with swimming. If we want our kids to stay safe around water, swim lessons are a must!

Physical fitness is a major component of human life. It’s a necessity that’s often taken for granted. Numerous studies, articles, and opinions of pretty much every medical professional tell you to take physical fitness seriously.

Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise you can do to help keep yourself in tip-top shape.

Let’s list the benefits:

• It’s a low impact sport (LESS INJURIES)
• It keeps the heart rate up (HEART HEALTHY)
• Learning breath control and swimming long distances increases lung capacity (STRONG LUNGS)
• It strengthens and tones the muscles
• It’s an overall body workout

But if you don’t want to take my word for it, here is a link from Time Magazine about the health benefits of swimming:

I, for one, took up swimming as my sport and fitness go to because it’s fun, relaxing, and almost certainly guarantees that I wouldn’t be hit by any balls, bats, racquets, or other human body parts.

This leads to the next reason…

Swimming is a great way to build camaraderie with other like-minded individuals. Yes, swimming is a definite necessity. BUT, it’s also a way to have fun with others. The coolest thing about swim lessons and swim team are the friendships that are built in the process.

I started swimming at twelve years old and continued swimming competitively through high school. My best friends are both friends that I met on a swim team. Sharing this commonality helped us to create relationships that have lasted over 15 years!

Swim lessons are similar in that you come every week and get to swim with the same kids and instructor. When you come on a perpetual basis (like we do here at Pengu) you get to swim with and experience growth with someone working towards the same goal as you.

It gets better:

If you take swimming seriously and decide to make it your sport, swim lessons can give you a competitive edge over others. One of the main things I’ve always enjoyed about swimming is that even though you can be on a swim team competing against another team, you are mainly competing against yourself.

Every swimmer knows that you want to beat the time you had in your last race. Maybe just shave off a few more seconds. Year-round perpetual swim lessons can provide that little boost to help shave off those extra seconds.

The great thing about Pengu is that we’re indoors! You can practice all year round! Yes, even in those three cold weather months that we get. Most people think that when it cools off, it’s time to take a break from swimming. That simply isn’t true.

AND LASTLY…

Swimming is a lifelong and life-saving skill. And once you’ve learned it, you have a skill that you can enjoy and take with you throughout your lifetime. But we must remember, repetition is key. Many people think that they can learn to swim in a few weeks and they’ll be good.

This is not the case. I hear on a weekly basis how a parent wants to sign their kids up for lessons. “They did really well last summer but we took a break and so they have forgotten what to do.” That’s because they have not been swimming on a regular basis.

It’s good to get them in lessons for the summer, but as has been witnessed, Just swimming during the summer won’t allow a swimmer to continue progressing. That’s why we offer swim lessons on a perpetual basis at Pengu.

The way we see it, learning to swim is a journey, not an event. In order to truly turn swimming into the lifelong skill it’s meant to be, you have to continue practicing. And practice makes progress!

It is important that we know and teach our children the importance of swim lessons.

We offer infant swim lessons as well as toddler swim lessons. It’s at these young ages where this skill can really be embedded in your child. We have year-round locations in Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, and Cypress.

So when you search “swim lessons in Sugar Land” or “swim lessons near me”, keep us in mind! Please call or stop by one of our four locations to speak with a customer service representative about getting started!