Monthly Archives: January 2014

It might be the middle of winter, but there's plenty going on with swimming pools right. We've collected some recent swimming pool news for your enjoyment.

Cow Rescued From Oregon Swimming Pool

In McMinnville, Oregon, a cow wandered through an open gate and right into a family's swimming pool. The pool owner herded the animal into the shallow end so it wouldn't drown, and even tried to create a ramp to help it escape. However, it was finally with the assistance of local firefighters that the cow was pulled to safety. The cow was exhausted, but uninjured.

And on the topic of critters in swimimng pools:

Why Do Animals Fall into Pools?

National Geographic recently pondered this question on their website, with YouTube clips of animals ranging from bears to moose to baby deer splashing around family swimming pools. Perhaps the animals get spooked and fall in? Perhaps the reflective water attracts them? Maybe they are trying to cool off? Or, just maybe, wildlife aren't so different from us and also enjoy playing in a big pool of water.

Children Evacuated From Public Pool Because of Prosthetic Leg

Children visiting a swimming pool in Kent, England, were evacuated when a man's leg was spotted in a changing room cubicle in a room being used by the children to change their clothes. Mistaken for a real leg, the children were quickly removed from the room and the pool facility was locked down while staff approached the suspected pedophile. It was then discovered to belong to a 60-year-old man who had removed it prior to swimming.

Nine Crocodiles Discovered at a Public Pool

Swimmers at a public pool in Queensland, Australia, were somewhat surprised to discover six baby freshwater crocodiles swimming laps beside them. Three more were discovered under tables nearby. What ensued was apparently a Benny Hill-like effort to capture all the little crocs, which was successful with no one injured. Sadly, one of the babies didn't make it, but the remainder were picked up by a local wildlife ranger for release back into the wild.

Speaking of unwelcome things in the water ...

High School Swim Teams Sickened by Pool Parasite

Several members of swim teams in Durham and Orange counties in North Carolina tested positive for Cryptosporidiosis, also known as Crypto. Crypto is a water-borne illness with symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. The parasite can survive several days even in properly chlorinated pools. For this reason, it is highly advised that individuals experiencing any kind of diarrhea upset avoid using swimming pools.

Have swimming pool news happening in your area? Send us your stories at [email protected] and we'll share them in our next roundup!

We hope that everyone reading this resolved to swim more in 2014! Swimming is both fun and a very good exercise. Swimming is a unique exercise because it allows you to work your body without the harsh impacts to your skeletal system that you find in running or jogging. The human body becomes very light in water: in waist-deep water, your body bears only 50% of its weight. In chest-deep water, your body bears only 25-35% of its weight. In neck-deep water, you bear merely 10% of your own weight. Since the water supports the rest, your body is free to move without stress on joints or bones, making for a more gentle workout.

So you know the pool is a great place to exercise, but what exactly is that exercise doing for your body? The health benefits of swimming are almost too many for one article, but we're going to do it anyway:

Provides Relief From Arthritic Pain

Water's amazing supportive ability means that the pool is the perfect place to workout if you're overweight or suffer from arthritis. The Arthritis Foundation recommends that those who suffer from arthritis should stretch muscles, strengthen muscles, and perform aerobic workouts. Swimming combines all three into one activity.

Builds Muscle Strength and Tone

Water is about 12 times as dense as air, so every movement in water becomes a resistance exercise. Resistance exercises are known to be the best way to develop muscle strength and tone. In one study, men who participated in an 8-week swimming program saw a 23.8% increase in their triceps (the muscle at the back of the arm).

Improves Bone Strength

The resistance exercise provided by swimming also helps improve bone strength. The benefits of swimming on bone strength are especially notable in post-menopausal women who are highly susceptible to osteoporosis.

Encourages Muscle Flexibility

The broad range of motions that are possible and involved in swimming encourage joints and ligaments to become and remain loose and flexible. Additionally, swimming strokes lengthen the body, stretching muscles repeatedly from head to toe, developing elasticity in muscle tissue.

Improves Heart Strength and Efficiency

Aerobic exercise, also known as "cardio", is known to strengthen the heart. It helps make the heart larger and also improves pumping efficiency. This results in increased blood flow throughout the body. In one study, sedentary men and women participated in swim training for 12 weeks and at the end saw their maximal oxygen consumption improve 10% and the amount of blood pumped with each heartbeat improved by as much as 18%.

Can Lower and Control Weight

As a general rule, for every 10 minutes of swimming, the average person burns 60 calories doing the breast stroke, 80 calories doing the backstroke, 100 calories swimming freestyle, and 150 calories doing the butterfly stroke. And because of the low-impact nature of exercising in water, it's easy to workout for longer periods of time.

Relieves Asthma Symptoms

Swimming is done, by necessity, in a moist environment, which helps alleviate exercise-induced asthma symptoms. For regular asthma sufferers, swimming can actually improve the condition overall. In one study, children who completed a 6-week swimming program saw improvements in the severity of their asthma symptoms, snoring, mouth-breathing, and experienced reduced hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Even more impressive, these health benefits were still apparent a year after the program ended.

Swimming regularly can increase lung volume and teach proper breathing techniques, both beneficial to asthma sufferers.

 Lengthens Life Expectancy

It's true! Swimming regularly can lengthen the span of your years. In a huge study of over 40,000 men aged 20-90 over the course of 32 years, those that swam had a 50% lower death rate than runners, walkers, or sedentary men. It's believed that the results would be similar for women. And because swimming is such a great exercise for older people, regular swimmers experience good health for longer than those who don't swim.

With a list of health benefits like this, who wouldn't want to go swimming? Make it your New Year's resolution and have a safe, healthy 2014. Happy swimming!

• http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/aging/retirement/10-health-benefits-of-swimming111.htm
• http://www.medicinenet.com/swimming/page4.htm