This title says is all - what is the difference between Competitive Swimming vs. Recreational Swimming. There are many differences in both and we will explore them to give you a full understanding. First before we can look at the differences we must understand were swimming originated and why. Swimming has been dated back to the Prehistoric Times to be more exact to the Stone Age. There are cave paintings that are dated back to 7000 years ago. Swimming at that time was believed to be done for fishing and bathing. Now you thought it was going to be a long History lesson.

Recreational swimming is a way to relax and also get a good full body workout. There are several swimming styles associated with recreational swimming and they include: Head up front crawl, dog paddle, breast stroke and side stroke are the most common. Most people who participate in recreational swimming do so to because they enjoy a good work out and also to keep cool because of the water. For people that want to take full advantage of your work out it’s recommended that you do the butterfly stroke. If you saw the Olympics, you know this stroke is one of the hardest strokes to maintain while swimming. If you can sustain this swim stroke you are having one of the best Cardio workouts available to anyone. But lets be honest, most swimmers that get into a pool, do so to get away from the heat and relax our bodies.

With competitive swimming, which dates back to the 19th Century, competitive swimming consists of 36 total swimming events, 18 events for males and females. Competitive swimming is part of the Summer Olympics and only 13 swimming events are competed in. There is a governing body that overseas all rules and regulations and is called FINA (Federation Internationale de Natacion) or in other word the International Swimming Federation. All competitive swimming events take place in a 50-meter pool and only 4 strokes are available, Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Free Style (Front Crawl). Obviously the object of competitive swimming is to be the best and beat all competitors you are facing. The 4 strokes can be swam individually or in an individual medley or IM. The IM consist of the following swim order:

1. Backstroke

2. Breaststroke

3. Butterfly

4. Freestyle

There is also a medley relay and it’s the same swim order, in a 4-member team. Each team member will swim one relay of the race. Normally the race can go for 200 meters, 400 meters or 800 meters. In order for a competitive swimmer to qualify for a race he or she must go to Meets. Meets are were a swimmer qualifies for competitive races weather its for the Olympics or Sponsor Races. There are 2 types of swim meets “A” and “B”. An “A” meet is a qualifying meet were the swimmer must swim within a time limit to make it through the next race or a bigger meet, which can be worth serious cash. A “B” meet it’s just a practice meet, this meet is a great way to find out were a swimmer needs improvement on. I know most of us will not be competitive swimmers because either we do not have the time needed to dedicate it to the sport or we just don’t have the physical tools needed for this sport. But it you want to give it a try there are ways to train your body and with the right coaching, anything is possible.