Why is swimming important?

The ability to swim is an important survival skill, but swimming provides a number of health and fitness benefits as well. Swimming is one the few fitness activities that allows participates to engage every muscle in the body. Swimmers also avoid physical damage caused by other types of strenuous exercises.

Human Kinetics explains that swimming combines strength-building and endurance into one activity. A swimmer builds endurance just as a walker or runner does, but water also provides resistance, which is important to strength-building. Swimming builds core strength in the abdominal area, which is one of the most vital factors to overall health maintenance and recovery from various injuries.