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Swimming and related water sports are done for a number of purposes. Often, these purposes can overlap, and a recreational swimmer for example may also swim for health benefits.
Two types of swimming docks ( A.E.) The most common reason for swimming is probably recreation, where the swimmer enters the water merely for enjoyment. Many swimming styles are suitable for recreational swimming. Most recreational swimmers prefer a style that keeps their head out of the water and uses an underwater arm recovery, for example breaststroke, side stroke, or ' dog paddle', however, out-of-water recovery of freestyle or butterfly gives rise to better exploitation of the difference in viscosity of the two media (air and water). Butterfly, which consists of out-of-water recovery with even symmetry in body movements, is most suited to rough water swimming. For example, Vicky Keithy crossed the rough waters of Lake Ontario using butterfly. Much of recreational swimming takes place in pools, where the water is calm. Therefore freestyle (which does not work as well in rough water) is suitable. However, playing around in rough water is a common source of recreation, but is sometimes dangerous due to undertow or being smashed into rocks on the bottom of the lake.
Swimming pools are popular venues for recreational swimming, as are beaches, lakes, swimming hole s, creeks, rivers, and sometimes canals.Pools are ordinarily entered by way of stairs, or a ladder, to permit slow (gentle) entry that avoids splash or the risk of getting water in the ears or nose, for beginners. As bathers get more comfortable (and experienced) they often just jump into the water. Some children like to run along the pool deck, to increase the thrill factor of the jump, but many bathing complexes prohibit running, for safety reasons.
Jumping into water from a high elevation, such as 1m, 3m, 5m, or 10m (in deep pools), and cliff-jumping into the waters of abandoned quarries, is another form of recreation. The sudden inrush of water provides an thrilling experience that children (of all ages, including their parents) often enjoy. Many facilities have cement platforms for a "fun swim" in which children of all ages can climb up a cement tower and jump into the pool from a height of 5m, and sometimes 10m. Cliff jumping at 20m is also a common form of recreation, but there are limits to heights of safe jumps, e.g. jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge at a height of 220 feet (66m) results in certain death, and is only done for purposes of suicide. Such jumps exceed the recreational limits of that the human body can withstand. Pools normally don't provide more than 10m height, as this is seen as the safe limit. Some pools, such as Woodbine Bathing Station/Summerville Olympic Pool have closed off the 10m height to children, for safety reasons.
Entering the pool by stairs or ladder is gentle enough as not to get water in the nose, but entering from a greater height is often done head first, or if done feet first, the nose is often held shut with one hand. Earplugs are often used because of the impact and because the higher a person jumps from, the deeper they go, and the depth of the water causes pressure on the ears.
When swimming to the end of a pool, one can stop, re-orient, and change directions but experienced swimmers flip around in a somersault fashion, so that they do not need to stop and hold onto the wall to change the direction of their bodies.
In lane swims, there is usually one preferred side to enter the pool from, so that people do not jump on top of other bathers. For safety, it is important to have structure and care in the manner in which people enter the water, especially if from a raised area such as a starting block, springboard, or cement tower. Entry and exit from the baths is usually specified by lifeguards to keep the flow of traffic operating in a safe and efficient manner.
Often, swimming is used as a form of exercise. Sometimes the swimming consists of swimming laps using a conventional stroke, such as the front crawl; other forms can include different forms of exercise performed in the water, such as aqua aerobics . When swimming laps, there is often little apparent difference between exercise and competitive swimming, except for the absence of other competitors.
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