Swimming is a National Sport
Sports are a large part of American culture. From the peewee to the professional level, sports continue to grow and dominate our daily lives here in the States. However, despite the growing number of sports in this country, there are still only a handful of sports that get a lot of attention. As a result, many Americans do not know much about sports outside the most popular ones, even sports in which Americans have had impressive levels of success.
One sport that receives little attention in the United States compared to other parts of the world is swimming. Most Americans only pay attention to swimming when the Olympics roll around, yet swimming has one of the longest seasons of any sport, with most swimmers taking little to no time off throughout the year.
Most Americans do not realize that USA Swimming is one of the most successful teams in the country. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the sports that Americans won the most medals in were track and field and swimming. Of all the nations competing in swimming, Americans won the most medals, accumulating a whopping 33 total medals, including 16 gold. Despite this success, swimming still receives little attention from the press.
Here are four reasons why you should pay more attention to swimming:
1. Swimming is both individual and team-based. At its core, swimming is an individual sport. However, swimmers train together. This creates a team culture that makes swimming more fun to watch. At all levels of swimming, swimmers compete in individual events and in relays, giving spectators the opportunity to witness both individual and team accomplishments, something which is not common across many sports.
2. Swimming is stat-based. Most people do not realize this, but like football and basketball, swimming is a numbers-based sport. Times, points scored, and race-video analyses are just a few examples of the data you can follow in swimming, making it even more interesting.
3. Swimming is year-round. Contrary to popular belief, swimmers compete year-round. Major meets that occur more frequently than the Olympics include the World Championships, World University Games, US Nationals, and NCAA Championships.
4. Swimming has a high success rate. The most-decorated Olympian in history just so happens to be swimmer Michael Phelps. But Team USA has also produced a number of other great swimmers, including distance swimmer Katie Ledecky, Olympic gold medalist and 8x NCAA champion Lilly King, and sprinter Anthony Ervin, who, at the Rio Olympics, became the oldest swimmer in history to win an Olympic gold medal.
The variety of events, amount of talent, and number of competitions in swimming make it a unique and exciting sport to follow. Team USA continues to grow, and this is in large part due to the success of American high school and club teams. So, make sure you follow some swimming this season, especially the high school and club meets. You never know; you could be watching the next Michael Phelps.
Written by: Elizabeth Levy
