Dearth of Public Interest in Swimming

The other day I was in my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, browsing through the magazine area. I tend to gravitate toward the athletic section, which contains magazines about all sorts of activities, chief among them running. I also see stuff about bicycling, skateboarding, golf, ...even surfing. But I NEVER see a magazine devoted to swimming. Which made me wonder...

When I attended physical education classes in junior and senior high school from 1968 through 1971, as a bloc my class always seemed overjoyed at the prospect of being able to swim in the school's pool while collectively groaning at the prospect of doing any kind of running. I myself didn't learn how to swim until the seventh grade, and afterward for the next couple of years my classmates would always leave me struggling far behind them when we swam laps (quite the opposite of my running experiences then). Although swimming in phys-ed usually began with a lap or two, the students were then allowed "free time" in the pool for most of the class session. I tended to practice my swimming, not enjoying it at all and feeling totally clumsy and stupid. Many, if not most of the other boys (maybe the girls did it differently in their classes) would play a game in which they would pair off in the pool with one riding the other's shoulders...and then try to topple each other in the water. To them, that was what made "swimming" fun, but I wanted no part of it then (and now, either). Oh, and there were also a few brave souls who were into diving. But even with pure swimming, minus the diving and horseplay, the consensus when I was this age was that it was cool and fun, the polar opposite of running.

Fast forward to now: running is an ardent passion for many while swimming is relatively rare among adults. I see magazine after magazine devoted to running; where are the swimming magazines? The only type of publication that at least indirectly addresses swimming is the triathlon magazine, and usually one has to search high and low in the pages to find articles in them relating to swimming, while the running and cycling sections predominate.

I find all of this very baffling. One would think, with the cardiovascular benefits that swimming brings without the shock to the body that running's pounding inflicts, that people would be flocking to pools in droves and insisting that more be built. There should be weekly public pool race events for different age groups to compete among themselves, just as there are all those public running events. But I search the Internet and find nothing of the sort. And here I am in hot, water-abundant, swim-friendly Florida!

And how often do you drive past hotels or homes with swimming pools that actually have people using them? With me, the answer is almost never. Some people seem to place great store in having their very own private swimming pools, but then don't use them, at least not for swimming.

I think one reason folks don't like to go swimming out in public is the modesty factor. Swimmers tend to be more exposed and a lot of people feel embarrassed about this and consequently avoid the activity. My own YMCA has a peculiar setup: their workout room directly faces the pool, with the treadmills, bicycle trainers, and elliptical machines all positioned to look out at the pool. From the vantage point of the pool, a swimmer looks up at the long glass window and sees rows of machines and their users facing them. Maybe that could be a little threatening for some who would otherwise like to occasionally go swimming in the pool. For me, I don't like this arrangement but I've overcome any modesty issues. I have even used this to my advantage by observing swimmers from the workout room and getting pointers about elements of form used in various swimming strokes.

If I am fortunate to live with my wits intact for a few more decades, I would also like to have a healthy, active body to experience this with. Swimming fits the bill (along with walking) as a suitable physical activity that is sustainable over the years. Running is fun for ME, but it isn't for everyone. Swimming should be promoted and more public-access pools built, with more reasonable swimming hours offered than what is currently available here in Gainesville.