Swimming, one of the hardest and most challenging sports? Well, not everyone would think that. It looks very easy and elegant when someone else is swimming. However, in the sports world, everyone thinks that their sport is the hardest one. It is true that every sport has its own challenges that athletes must adjust to and swimming comes with its own as well.
If you ask any swimmer, he would tell you that he trains twice a day, throughout the whole week. Competitive swimmers truly live their sports. However, swimming is not a hard sport just because of the intense and constant training. This sport is both physically and mentally demanding. Let’s see some of the reasons why swimming is on the list of the most challenging sports.
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Fear
One of the things that makes this sport very challenging is the fear that people experience while they are in the water. While swimming many people get scared and start to panic which increases their chances of drowning because they lose control. Unfortunately, fear holds people from trying things. All sports come with some type of danger. However, with the right technique and practice, everyone can learn how to swim and conquer the fear of drowning. There are so many different reasons why people are scared of swimming and because of that, they consider this sport the hardest one.
This can be due to some traumatic and negative experiences that people had. Something like this can truly stop people to go into water ever again. The other reason can be a lack of swimming knowledge. Many people do not really learn how to swim correctly, so they can not relax in the water and they lose so much energy while swimming. Well, it is never too late to start enjoying swimming and learning how to swim. The best way to conquer the fear is to go on swimming lessons for adults that you can find on swimmingcourses.sg. With professional help, you will ease the anxiety and finally give yourself a chance to enjoy swimming.
Swimming techniques
A strong swimming technique is something that every athlete wishes to have. They are relying on their technique, along with their speed and strength to get through the race as fastest as they can. Every stroke in the swimming race matters and because of that all swimmers are constantly running through the drills during their practice time, so they can perform their strokes. Swimming technique is not something that can be developed and mastered overnight. It truly takes a lot of time, persistence, and practice to build a strong technique in the stroke. This is why it is not easy to be a professional swimmer.
Water Resistance and Temperature of the Water
One of the factors that make swimming such a hard sport is water temperature and resistance. As you already know, water is much denser than air. This means that there is a higher resistance that will prevent people from moving freely and quickly while they are swimming. This factor is not included in any other sport which makes swimming the hardest one. Logically, the water temperature affects the swimmers and how they are performing. They are usually competing in the cold water because it is much harder to swim in the warm water. It is the same as it would be for a sprinter to run at a temperature that is over 100 degrees.
Swimmers are having dryland training
Swimmers are performing different types of weight training than any other athletes in their sports. In general, swimmers do not look to have bulky body shapes because it will create extra weight for them to drag through the water. In other words, they will swim much slower. Their goal is to be toned and to have lean muscle. They are constantly performing so-called dryland workouts, so they can achieve their needs in the water.
Swimmers must train through the whole year
Must athletes have the privilege of enjoying the offseason which is a period they are not training. However, there is no break for the swimmers, in fact, the only break that they get is two weeks at the end of the summer. This is a period when their season is changed from the long course to the short course. It is highly mentally exhausting to swim constantly, every single day. This factor is one of the crucial ones that make swimming so hard. The only thought of the swimmers is to constantly try to improve their performance and be the best. Believe it or not, if they one day off to rest from this activity, they are going to be two days behind. Therefore, they can not allow themselves to take a rest day.
Breathing
One more element that makes the swimming sport so challenging is breathing. It is very hard to learn how to breathe properly while swimming in the water. The face of the swimmer is in the water more than half of the time. This logically refers to all swimming techniques that are not performed while the swimmer is on the back. Swimmers are breathing 30 to 40 times per minute. This is much less than in the case of runners or cyclists. It is very hard breathing a lot less than any other athlete can.
Horizontal Positioning
As you already know swimming is the only sport where the athletes are constantly in the horizontal position. This means all the time. Additionally, you should know that sleeping and swimming horizontally are two different things. When you are in the water and you swim, you can not see what you are doing with your arms and legs. You constantly need to move them properly by relying on your skills. The swimmer’s heart rate drops by 20 beats per minute because he is exposed to lying flat for so long. This makes swimmers feel dizzy since the blood in their brains is reduced. However, they need to continue with the hard work of swimming a couple of hours back and forth.
