Swimming is a sport that requires a lot of endurance and uses muscles throughout your body. Spending as much time in the pool as possible working on different strokes is a key to faster times.

Residential pools come in all shapes and sizes, but lap pools and competition pools usually conform to certain standard dimensions. Pools that have the correct dimensions can host national or international competitions.

Swimming fins, sometimes called flippers, can be a useful training tool. Like all exercise equipment, however, they have their pros and cons. A consideration of all the aspects involved, as well as the different types of fins, is important for you to decide whether or not you're going to use them in your training.

Swimming is an excellent moderate-level aerobic exercise and a good calorie burner. Cold water temperatures can increase this calorie burn. However, cold temperatures may also lead to consumption of more calories. If your goal is weight loss, swimming in cold water can be a mixed blessing.

While sunscreen and life jackets may be at the top of your list for staying safe in the water, there’s another thing you should be cautious of: the water temperature.

Teaching a child or adult how to swim provides a low-impact aerobic activity that lasts a lifetime. Swim lessons are offered at many pools and YMCA facilities. To become a certified swimming instructor, men and women must go through extensive training and testing.

If you need a swim workout and don’t have access to a lap pool, a swimming harness, also called a tether, will allow you to get a good workout using a smaller space. Most tethers have a belt that goes around your waist and is connected to flexible tubing that keeps you in place as you swim.

When it comes to breathing while swimming, timing is everything. Without proper technique, you’ll be holding your breath or gasping for air, creating a choppier flow that will reduce your swimming speed. Breathing out of the nose allows you to continue stroking evenly, maintaining a constant breath pattern.

Don't ask members of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club how warm it has to be to swim. These winter swimmers plunge into the Atlantic Ocean every Sunday from November until April and revel in the chill. Swimming temperatures are a matter of preference -- some people can tolerate much colder temperatures than others.

International swimming competitions feature four strokes: freestyle, butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke. The freestyle remains the fastest stroke, according to world records posted on USAswimming.com, followed by butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke, the slowest competitive swimming stroke.

Swimming has been an Olympic sport since 1896, with the 100-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle competitions being held in open water. Since then, additional events, such as the backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke and relays, have been implemented along with an indoor pool.

Swimming laps provides a moderate to intense aerobic workout that can help you burn calories and manage your weight. Swimming can also help you strengthen muscles in your upper body, lower body and core. Some strokes work core muscles better than others.