Aquatics

Aquatics is the name for all sports that take place in water. This includes swimming, diving, water polo, and artistic swimming. Millions of people enjoy aquatic sports around the world.

Types of Aquatic Sports

Swimming races are the most popular aquatic sport. Swimmers race in different styles like freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly. Diving is when athletes jump from high platforms and do flips and twists before entering the water.

Water polo is a team sport played in a pool. Players throw a ball into a goal while treading water. Artistic swimming, which used to be called synchronized swimming, combines swimming with dance moves set to music.

Water Safety

Learning to swim is one of the most important things a kid can do. Swimming keeps you safe around water. Many community pools and organizations offer swimming lessons for kids.

When you swim, you should always have an adult watching. Never swim alone. Knowing how to swim opens up a whole world of fun water sports. It is great exercise too, because swimming works your whole body.

Fun Facts

• Swimming has been an Olympic sport since the very first modern Games in 1896.
• Michael Phelps has won 23 Olympic gold medals, more than any other athlete in any sport.
• Water polo players can tread water for the entire game, which is about an hour.

Did You Know?

Some Olympic divers enter the water from a platform that is 10 meters high, which is about the same height as a three-story building!