THE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF SWIMMING

THE MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF SWIMMING

Children’s Mental Health Week – 3-9 February 2025

Swimming is widely recognised as one of the best form of exercises for children. It plays a crucial role in helping children stay fit and healthy while boosting their overall health and mood.

This week is Children’s Mental Health Week, and because we are so passionate about children learning to swim and gaining a lifetime enjoyment of the water, we’d like to highlight the many physical and mental health benefits swimming offers to children of all ages.

Physical Development

Water naturally provides a low-impact, full-body workout, making swimming ideal for supporting a child’s physical development.

Research shows that swimming helps babies and toddlers grow physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. It promotes healthy growth, improves flexibility and posture, strengthens coordination and muscle development, and helps with balance and co-ordination - all while teaching essential water safety skills.

Swimming also improves cardiovascular health, and can help children maintain a healthy weight. 

Brain Development

Studies from the Griffith Institute for Educational Research have shown that children who start swimming early reach key cognitive milestones - including speech, literacy, numeracy, and visual-motor skills - much sooner than their peers who don’t swim.

The Griffiths Institute also found that “children who learn to swim by the age of five gain significant developmental advantages compared to those who don’t start swimming at an early age.”

The increased blood flow from swimming has been linked to improved memory, mood, focus, and clarity, and it can also contribute to better sleep, and improved behaviour – boosting self-esteem. 

Stress Relief

Swimming is recommended by the NHS to also help combat anxiety and stress. The endorphins released during exercise, which are feel-good chemicals, reduce stress hormones.

Plus, it’s fun and learning to swim enables a lifetime enjoyment of the water with family and friends, whether that be playing in the pool on holiday, or joining in with any water sports activity!

For nearly a quarter of a century, we have proudly been helping children all over the world learn to swim, and reap all the benefits of swimming, with our multi-award-winning Original Konfidence™ Jacket