TALLER DE REDACCION Y ENSAYO

IT’S NOT JUST A SPORT

IT’S A PASSION

STEFFANY INOA 13-8037

TALLER DE REDACCION Y ENSAYO

OFELIA BERRIDO

       You say it’s not a sport. You say it’s not hard well, you don’t know how wrong you are. It’s the hardest, most physically and mentally grueling sport and it's a passion there are no breaks and no subs. It’s make it or break it you decide, where every tenth of a second counts. You kick until you legs burn until they are numb, there are no second chances. It’s you against yourself it takes two or even three hour practices sometimes even twice a day even if that means waking up at 4:30 in the morning for a good time. Your team is like a family yet sometimes an enemy. Swimming it’s hard, it’s fun, it takes heart, it takes ability, hard work, it takes commitment, it takes guts, and it takes skill. Never say it’s not a sport because it simply is. Swimming is everything. What do you know about swimming? To tell me that is not a sport, when you've never done a job of maximum consumption, when you've never left everything in training, when you've never fought for a goal, never again to say that is not a sport.

         Many doctors and athletes agree that swimming is one of the best workouts you can give your body, because it works almost all of your major muscle groups at the same time. Since you're floating in the water and not in contact with any hard surfaces, there's less pressure on your joints and bones. You're a lot less likely to suffer certain kinds of injuries than with other sports. Swimming does burn calories at a rate of about 3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight. If you weigh 150 lbs. and it takes you 30 minutes to swim one mile, then you will be using about 900 calories in one hour. However, many swimmers do not swim that quickly, and many cannot swim for that distance or duration, so swimming to lose weight is not always the best plan. Swimming does exercise almost the entire body - heart, lungs, and muscles - with very little joint strain. It is great for general fitness, just not a great way to drop excess pounds.

        Michael Phelps said when he began swimming “I want to change the way people see swimming I want people to talk about it, think about it and see it”   Swimming is the most complicated sport. Over 50% of swimmers worldwide suffer from shoulder pains. There was a swimmers study that revealed that those over 40 years old who swam more than four times a week showed fewer signs of aging in the general population. There are different types of styles but there are four main styles; Freestyle or crawl, backstroke, breaststroke, & butterfly. Every swimmer has to know how to do the four main styles but each and every one of them are better at one style than the other.

      Freestyle or crawl it’s the easiest style ever. In a competition or in a swim meet you can only swim fifteen meters underwater from the start and the turn and   Breaststroke: For this style there are so many rules you have to follow to not be disqualified. The swimmers shoulder must be kept in line with the water; arms and legs must be pushed forward together, and brought back under the surface of the water. When the swimmer reaches the turn and finish, both hands must touch the wall together. No dolphin, scissors or flutter kicks are allowed. Another stroke is the backstroke it’s similar to the freestyle, only 15 meters can be spent underwater from the start or from each turn. In 1991, the rules were changed so that when turning, the swimmers did not have to touch the wall with their hand, enabling them to do a much faster turn. This has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimmers not being able to see where they are going. Last but not least the hardest stroke is the called the butterfly. The butterfly “among swimmers known as fly” is a swimming stroke swum on the breast, with both arms moving simultaneously, and the legs doing the dolphin kick. The “Fly” is a most difficult stroke that requires good technique as well as strong muscles.

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