What Teens Should Know About Joining a Swim Team

Most people like to think that they belong somewhere with someone. For teens, a good place to begin is to join a swim team. Swim teams offer several excellent benefits to teens. Just getting to go be in the water several times per week would be incentive enough for many people to join. Swim teams offer more than just a chance to get wet.

The first thing to know about swimming is that it is a great conditioning opportunity. Even if you are not in great shape, swimming will give you and excellent work out. Swimming uses many muscles that are not regularly used in other activities. Pulling your arms and legs through the water makes a great resistance exercise. Most swimmers get into good shape a byproduct of swimming.

As you become more interested in the competitive side of the sport, it will encourage you to maintain a proper body weight and to eat better foods. Being healthy is a big part of any athletic achievement. Swimming is not an exception. You will find that you need a large amount of energy to keep up with the better swimmers. This means learning to eat foods that help you strip off the fat while providing high energy for the swim meets.

Swimmers tend to have their own culture. Not only will you belong to the swim team, but you will belong to the group. Friendships and social acceptance will be developed as you develop your swimming skills. Being a part of the team will encourage you to push yourself harder and farther than you would have without it. While swimming is largely a personal achievement, the meets have relays and team competitions also.

For many swimmers, the competition is rarely about competing with other swimmers. It is about competing with yourself and beating the clock. You will swim alongside the other competitors, but it is the timer that counts. If you can beat the timer when you are alone, then you will be able to beat it in competition. You cannot help what the other swimmers do. You can only affect what you accomplish.

You will want to know a few other things. Many swimmers remove all of the hair from their bodies to get rid of unwanted drag and weight. Swimmers also wear suits that shed water while the swimmer is moving forward. This lowers the drag from the suit. You will be expected to wear the same type of suit as the rest of the team.

Finally, in high school and sometimes college, athletes are expected to be good citizens. This means that you will have to follow not only the swim rules, but society's rules also. Getting in trouble away from the pool may impact your place on the team. You may need to raise your personal code of conduct when you join the team.