Competition swimming is one of the great global sports, where swimmers compete to be the fastest over pre-determined distances in a swimming pool. The majority of swimming races are individual competitions and a number of styles of swimming are used such as crawl, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke and the medley, which combines all these in a single race.

Swimming pools are heated to around 28 degrees Celsius. There are special pools for children and deeper pools for those who are older. Pools can vary from about 40 cm to 4 metres deep. Those that cannot already swim can be trained by instructors. Swimming is a highly beneficial physical activity, as it is a low impact activity and there are very few injuries in the sport. Children’s swimming training includes not just swimming, but is also made more enjoyable with games, water acclimatisation and other water-based activities.