COMMUNITY PARTNER OF EVERYDAY WELLNESS
Every other week, Monitor staff writes about a feature article exploring wellness in the Capital Region. We’d like to thank our Community Partner Concord Hospital. Our Community Partners do not participate in the selection of these articles. That is fully at the discretion of our journalists.
Swimming feels as natural as breathing for Katie Chevalier, even if the two are often mutually exclusive.
The local swim coach practically grew up in a lap pool. She dove into the sport at the age of seven, swam through high school and spent four years in the Clarkson University natatorium. Then, she picked up a whistle and a clipboard, ready to help a new generation explore the joys of the water.
“There’s so many benefits to being a swimmer,” Chevalier said. “It’s a sport you can continue to work on your whole life.”
The CDC places swimming among the top five recreational activities in the country, with Americans swimming recreationally more than 300 million times each year. The low-impact sport improves muscle tone, endurance and respiratory fitness while bettering heart, lung and mental health among participants.
People of all ages and physical limitations can enjoy the aerobic and strength benefits found underwater. Chevalier learned that firsthand when she suffered a serious diaphragm injury in sixth grade and learned to adapt in the pool by switching her primary specialty from the short-axis butterfly to the long-axis backstroke. She still swims today in longer-distance, open-water settings.
“When you’re just going out and swimming, it can be a very peaceful and meditative thing,” Chevalier said. “There’s nothing like it. It almost feels like you’re flying.”
As an added benefit, swimmers don’t need teammates or organized competition to start noticing positive changes. Even casual laps offer physical benefits and mental clarity.
“The water is such a different place than the rest of the world,” said Shireen Muskoob, a Concord YMCA lap swimmer. “You’re in a completely different medium, and it’s magical.”
Muskoob swims with her mother, who picked up the sport after undergoing knee surgery. She notes that, although challenging, time in the pool provides multiple rewards.
“It’s not easy in the beginning. It’s not easy in the middle or end, either. You’re exerting yourself in different ways,” Muskoob said. “But if you really maximize on the potential that swimming can give to you, it’s full body: muscles, oxygen, cardio. If you had to do one sport, this would be it.”
Research has shown that swimming decreases blood pressure and improves cardiovascular efficiency, especially for those with hypertension. A 2016 study found that swimmers exhibited statistically higher lung capacities than both football players and non-exercising control participants.
Swimming also uses nearly every muscle in the body, from the shoulders and abs to hip flexors, glutes and calves. The water resistance strengthens muscle fibers without the wear-and-tear generally associated with weightlifting or high-impact exercise. Since the water provides hypo-gravitational support and eliminates fall risks, it makes the sport ideal for aging populations.
Many people turn to the pool as they age, but swimming can aid young athletes, too. Chevalier, who coaches children ages 6-18 with the Lakes Region Wavemakers and Concord YMCA, has noticed benefits in her own pupils.
“You see a lot more maturity in swimmers than you see with other kids of a similar age,” Chevalier said. “It’s just a way of helping them train for the future obstacles they may be facing.”
Most community swimming pools, health clubs or local YMCAs offer lessons and coaching assistance to those struggling to pick up strokes or proper technique, and people who feel comfortable in the water can experiment with creating different sets on their own. In a standard American lap pool, which has 25-yard lengths, athletes might set workout goals for either distance or time.
A climbing ladder set offers flexibility and rest for beginners. After starting with one length of the pool, swimmers can add laps — two consecutive, three consecutive, and so forth — until reaching a threshold distance. At that point, they can choose to swim back down the ladder before ending with another singular lap.
Intermediate swimmers might switch up the aerobic intensity of their workout. A set of 100s, for example, could be performed while alternating between easy and hard efforts. Advanced athletes can mix in kicking, pulling and different strokes to target certain muscle groups or speeds. Whether swimming in lap pools or open water, the potential for creativity and advancement never fades.
“I think that’s the great thing about this sport, is that you can continue to improve upon it at any age,” Chevalier said.
