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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

This week’s Turbo Swimmer of the Week is Michael Camacho. Michael is 11 years old and is currently a Level 11 swimmer. He has been taking Advanced Stroke Clinic lessons with Instructor Michael. The two Michaels have been a dynamic duo since Michael Camacho began swim lessons at Waterworks Aquatics in Irvine. Instructor Michael wanted to ensure Michael Camacho received recognition as Turbo Swimmer of the Week because he has greatly progressed over the years and is always extremely excited to be taking swim lessons at Waterworks Aquatics. Therefore we thought it would be a great idea to learn more about Michael Camacho.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Swimmer and mathematician

Who is your best friend and why? Brandon, Martin, and Andrew because they are really nice and I’ve known them for a long time

What is your favorite book? My favorite book is Artemis Fowl

What is your favorite food? Sushi

What is your favorite color? Blue

If you had a super power what would it be? Ability to fly

If you were invisible for a day, what would you do? Prank people

What is your favorite animal? Dogs

If you had to give away all of your toys but one, which would you keep? I would keep my books and my bike because books do not count as toys

How long can you hold your breathe underwater? 35 seconds

What is your favorite part about Waterworks Aquatics? The instructors and the snacks

Who is your favorite swim instructor and why? Instructor Michael is my favorite because he is funny and I have swam with him for a really long time

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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

This week’s Turbo Swimmer of the Week is Vaughn. Vaughn is only 2 years old and is taking Parent and Me swimming lessons at Waterworks Aquatics in Highlands Ranch. Since Vaughn is such an outstanding swimmer, we thought it would be a great idea to get to know him a little better.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Batman

Who is your best friend and why? Daddy because he is awesome!

What is your favorite TV Show/Movie? Chuggington

Waht is your favorite food? Jelly Beans

What is your favorite color? Blue

If you had a superpower what would it be? Flying

If you were invisible for a day, what would you do? Play at the zoo with all of the animals

What is your favorite animal? Dinosaur

How long can you hold your breathe underwater? 5 seconds

What is your favorite part about waterworks Aquatics? Miss Jessie, Miss Tiffany, Mr. Luke, and Mr. Tim

Great job Vaughn and congratulations!! :)

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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

This week’s Turbo Swimmer of the Week is Ella. Ella is only 5 years old but she is already a Level 7: Seal swimmer, meaning she can swim freestyle with only 3 second breathes, dive down to grab a ring, and swim backstroke without assistance. We chose Ella as this weeks Turbo Swimmer of the Week because she is always extremely excited to be taking lessons with Instructor Michael at Waterworks Aquatics in Irvine. Ella is continuously growing as a swimmer, although when she grows up she wants to be a firefighter. Her best friend forever is Halle her sister and they do everything together. Ella’s favorite TV Show is Doc McStuffins and her favorite food is Mac n Cheese and Pizza. Her favorite color is pink and her favorite animal is the elephant. We asked her what the worst smell in the world is and she said stinky socks! If she had a super power she would want to be able to fly around like Tunkerbell and if she was invisible for a day she would play on your bike. Ella can hold her breathe underwater for 20 seconds. Her favorite part about being at Waterworks Aquatics is jumping off of the block and swimming. Michael is her favorite swim instructor at Waterworks Aquatics because he taught Ella how to swim and he is fun. Great job Ella and Congratulations on being named Turbo Swimmer of the Week!!

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4 Ways to Prevent your Goggles from Fogging

Goggles serve a specific purpose—to help you see in the water. It’s an important job—so much so that you may see a couple of paranoid triathletes or open water swimmers with a spare pair of goggles with them at the start line.

Even if your goggles stay firmly on your face, the ill-prepared may have a dilemma once they jump in the water.

Fog.

Your goggles will start fogging up if you’re not careful, and the reason is simple. Your face (inside the goggles) is warmer than the area outside of the goggles—in this case, the water. Condensation creates fog that is a pain in the butt for swimmers in the middle of a hard workout or, even worse, a race.

This is an issue as old as goggles, and stories have been passed around the triathlon and swimming circles on how exactly to combat this nuisance.

Here are some of the more common solutions:

Saliva

You can budget for a fog-free solution, but your own spit is a cheap and surprisingly effective short-term fix to prevent fogging. Many swimmers, due to the sensitivity of the eyes, would never put anything in their goggles other than a nice loogie.

Rubbing saliva around the inside of your goggles will add a layer of water to the lens that will prevent condensation from forming. And for a while, that will leave your goggles fog-free.

Anti-Fog Spray

An anti-fog spray market has developed to address this problem. Companies like AquaSphere, TYR, Speedo, Frog Spit and one so brilliantly named Cat Crap has anti-fogging products that work for swimmers, scuba divers, snowboarders and more.

The directions for most of these indicate to apply it to your goggles and after a short time, clean it out. It’s important to clean it out—otherwise, this can get into your eyes and pretty much ruin your day.

Baby Shampoo

Yes, many swimmers carry a small bottle of baby shampoo with them. Put a drop or two in each lens, wait 15 minutes, rinse it out and enjoy a fog-free swim. Seriously. Like the spray, the baby shampoo will leave a layer of transparent film on the goggle that won’t let the condensation do its obnoxious thing.

Toothpaste

This works similarly to shampoo, creating a film that blocks condensation from blocking your vision. This is a favorite tactic of the scuba diving community, but triathletes and swimmers can certainly steal the idea.

One more thing: Many goggles come with an anti-fog coating, but it wears off easy with your fingers. Avoid touching the inside of your goggles with your fingers to keep that barrier in place for as long as possible.

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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

This week for turbo swimmer of the week, we have not one BUT two turbo swimmers! Meet Richie and Phoebe Pham! They are both siblings who enjoy spending time together and are currently doing stroke clinic with Mr. Jeremy! Both Richie and Phoebe want to be doctor’s when they grow up. Richie wants to be a surgeon and Phoebe wants to heal people. Both their favorite movie is maleficent and their favorite food is sushi. Richie’s favorite color is yellow and Phoebe’s is green. If they had one super power, Richie’s would be super speed and Phoebe’s would be to heal people. They both have a favorite stuffed animal that they sleep with, Richie’s sleeps with a stuffed dog and Phoebe sleeps with a stuffed elephant. Both of them can also hold their breathe for 55 seconds and their favorite stroke to swim is freestyle.

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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

This week's Turbo Swimmer of the Week is Reigs Mariadasan!! Regis was born in Ottawa, Canada and is currently taking swim lessons at our Waterworks Aquatics Swim School in Carlsbad. Regis is only 8 years old but he is already a Level 9 swimmer, meaning he can swim freestyle with only 1 second breaths and breaststroke with two hand finish. When he grows up he wants to be a football player. His best friend is Reni because she is his sister. Reni also takes swimming lessons at Waterworks Aquatics! Regis' favorite movie is How to Train your Dragon 2 and his favorite color is dark blue. His favorite food is ice cream and chocolate and if he were invisible for a day he would steal all of the pizza and eat it. His idea of a super power is laser eyes though just like Superman. Regis' favorite animal is the tiger and the worst smell he has ever smelt is a skunk. If Regis had to give away all of his toys except for one, he would keep his Ipad. Regis can hold his breath underwater for about 20 seconds and his favorite part about Waterworks Aquatics is the swim competitions! Regis stood out to the instructors because he always has a smile on his face and loves coming in for his swim lessons. Great job Regis!!

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Our Swim Instructors

One of the many advantages Waterworks Aquatics has over other swim schools is our highly trained Swim Instructors. We begin hiring for Swim Instructors who are 17 years of age or older. We try to recruit instructors who have previous swim experience and experience working with children. Most of our instructors have played water polo or swam on their high school or even college teams. Also, we require each Swim Instructor to get CPR and AED Certified before applying at Waterworks Aquatics.

Once our Swim Instructors pass the interview portion of employment, they begin training. Each instructor must complete 40 hours of training in the water along with 20 hours out of the water before they can begin teaching lessons. The 40 hours of training in the water is part of a program called “ITS” where children volunteer to be taught by both a Senior Swim Instructor and a Swim Instructor in training. The additional 20 hours of training consists of instructional videos on the computer where each Swim Instructor is required to take notes.

Our Swim Instructors are extremely important to us at Waterworks Aquatics for several reasons. They are a key component of our “Triangle of Communication” between the parents, the children and the instructor. This ensure a level of comfortability. Next we want our Swim Instructors to be highly trained and qualified to ensure our children are receiving the level of attention needed to quickly progress to the next level. We want our parents to witness their children accelerating from lesson to lesson and from level to level. In order to do this in the most efficient way possible, each instructor is required to take notes after each lesson. Each and every drill and skill that is taught is recorded and built upon during the next lesson. There is not any other swim school that has a system similar to this, which is why children have to quickest swimming progressions at Waterworks Aquatics!

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Turbo’s Swimmer of the Week

Will Walker is Turbo’s Swimmer of the Week!! Will takes swim lessons at Waterworks Aquatics in Pasadena and is currently taking swim lessons with Instructor Wyatt. Will is only 7 years old, yet he is already a Level 5 swimmer, meaning he can swim Freestyle across the 25 yard pool. When Will grows up he wants to write and illustrate books. His best friend is his neighbor Jack and they hang out together everyday! His favorite TV Show is Food Adventures on the Travel Channel. His favorite food is salmon and his least favorite is quinoa. If Will had a super power he would be able to fly and the worst smell he has ever smelt is rotten eggs! Will can hold his breathe underwater for 32 seconds! Will loves swimming at Waterworks Aquatics and loves taking lessons with Wyatt because Wyatt makes his swim lessons so much fun. Great job Will!

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Turbo Swimmer of the Week

Ellie Wong is this week’s Turbo Swimmer of the Week!

Ellie is 3 1/2 years old and is already at Level 6, which means she can swim Freestyle across the 25 yard pool! She grew up in Foothill and she has been taking swim lessons at Waterworks Aquatics in Irvine with her 6 year old sister Ava. When she grows up she wants to be just like Princess Elsa from Frozen. Her best friend is Chloe and she loves to spend time with her. Ellie’s favorite food is oranges, her favorite color is purple, and her favorite animal is sea turtles. Ellie says she can only hold her breathe underwater for 5 seconds, but I am confident she can hold her breathe longer than that! She loves taking swim lessons with Instructor Jessica because Jessica is very nice and fun. Congratulations Ellie for being this week’s Turbo Swimmer of the Week, great job, and keep smiling!

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NBA Star Brandon Bass Learns to Swim

It is never too late to learn how to swim or improve your stroke technique. Whether you have been afraid of the water your whole life or you have been over exerting yourself during swims, you can always improve your technique. Waterworks Aquatics understands the importance of water safety and therefore offers child and adult swim lessons. Boston Celtics forward Brandon Bass may be good at a lot of things on the basketball court, but he is a rookie compared to his son when it comes to swimming. While Brandon Bass Jr. may be an expert at the doggy paddle, Brandon Bass Sr. is still struggling with the idea of treading water. This is why Waterworks Aquatics Swim Schools offers aquatic programming to children ages 3 months to adults. It is important that you know how to swim, even adults because accidents can happen. With summer arriving a little more than six months from now, and an empty pool and lake nearby, Brandon Bass is finally taking the initiative to learn how to swim. If you are an adult and you are interested in swim lessons, visit http://waterworksswim.com/swim_school#adult

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6 Reasons Why Your Child Should Swim

The benefits of swimming are endless, and your child should learn to swim as early as possible. Here are 6 reasons why your child should swim:

1. It’s essential to their safety.

According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death to children ages one through 14. Drowning is the number one cause of preventable deaths. Drowning is also the number child killer in California, behind car accidents. It is absolutely crucial that all kids know how to swim at a young age. There is water all around us, even if it’s as small as a bathtub. Making sure that your child is comfortable in and around water is essential to their safety. This is why Water Safety is a year-round importance to us at Waterworks Aquatics. It is crucial to get your toddlers in the water as early as 3 months old!

2. It’s a low-impact sport.

Swimming is obviously low-impact, as it’s performed in water. According to Bucknell University, the body is 90 percent buoyant when in the water up to your neck, so you’re not hitting the ground with the weight you carry on land. Swimming is the ideal sport for the well being of one’s body in the long-run. Yes, anything in excess can cause your body to break down, so swimming injuries are common. But if you get a shoulder injury, you may still kick during practice to stay in shape. This isn’t so easy in other sports, where you often have to stop the sport all together because of the impact.

In swimming, you can often just rest the injured part of your body, and still use the healthy part of you in the pool. The most common swimming injuries are from overuse, showing that swimming is a generally very easy on one’s body as opposed to a critical injury such as a sprain or break from running or jumping. A great way to prevent swimming injuries is stay hydrated. Believe it or not swimmers will sweat and their muscles will break down while exercising. Another way to prevent swimming injuries is to stretch out and warm up/cool down before and after your routine begins.

3. The value of teamwork is learned along with individuality.

Like any sport, the team atmosphere is the greatest aspect. College athletes admit that post-graduation, they miss their team and the hours spent together while training and traveling.Your teammates are there to help you get through the hardest times because your friends on the team endure the same hard work that you do every day. From this shared experience, swimmers learn to support their teammates, which creates a positive atmosphere. This is a skill that can be carried through life into the workplace and beyond.

But teamwork is learned in plenty of sports, why is swimming special? The great thing about swimming is that there is also an individual aspect to it. In competitive swimming, you learn self-motivation and goal setting/reaching. Swimmers have their own personal set of times for their events.

At each meet, competitive swimmers try to beat their personal best times, while at the same time swimming for their team as a whole. In high school and college swimming, the primary motivation is to earn points for your team so they can win the meet.

4. Time management is inevitably learned.

It is important to train yourself physically and mentally to know when it is most important to stay up and get an assignment done versus getting the sleep you need for work the next day. This is a skill that swimmers will hold for the rest of their lives. Being able to divide and manage one’s time, to prioritize what needs to be done first, second, and last is an invaluable talent that is gained through competitive swimming. This is why we encourage scheduling your swim lessons in advance. Reserve the perfect time that fits your schedule. Try to schedule at least two lessons per week for the fastest progression.

5. Swimming is an incredible workout.

The sport involves moving multiple muscle groups in a high-intensity, cardio workout. All four strokes involve working different muscle groups. Often times, children and adults take up swimming for weight loss. It burns calories quickly, and is easier for overweight people to pick up because it’s low-impact. According to Bucknell, swimming offers 12 to 14 percent more resistance training than life on land- offering an exceptionally challenging workout.

Aside from weight loss, introducing your child to swimming early on will promote a healthy life. Once he or she learns to swim, they may hop in a pool at any point in their life to get a low-risk, high-intensity workout. This is why we begin offering swim lessons as early as 3 months!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, swimming can help with chronic diseases and mental health. Water-based exercising like swimming improves the use of joints affected by arthritis. The CDC also states that “Parents of children with developmental disabilities find that recreational activities, such as swimming, improve family connections.” Swimming also releases endorphins, which aid in decreasing depression and improving moods.

6. You can swim for the rest of your life.

If your child knows how to swim at a young age, this skill is forever with them. In their later years, their longevity and quality of life will be enhanced by swimming. The CDC says that water exercising helps to decrease disability and aids in the quality of life in older adults. Since swimming is a low-impact sport, this makes it a safe option for older adults, rather than risking a fall while biking or running. Swimming feels good on joints and boosts one’s mood at the same time. If you are an adult and you do not know how to swim do not feel frustrated! We offer adult swim lessons as well as water aerobics.

It’s essential that every child learn to swim, especially to be water-safe. But there are so many levels of swimming and benefits that come along the way. Introduce your child to swimming early on so that they have the skill for their whole life. This can help improve their overall physical and mental health. Hopefully, they will fall in love with the sport and lap it up for years.

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Swim Play Date

Are you looking for a fun way to play in the water with your Moms Group? Waterworks Aquatics is now offering a Preview Swim Play Date for brand new families!! This preview class is for children between the ages of 3 months and 3 years and will highlight the benefits of infant swimming and water safety. The class will be taught in a group format and is the perfect opportunity for parents and babies to interact in the water. Our pools are heated year-round and indoors at select locations, creating a comfortable fun and playful environment for you and your baby. If a Swim Play Date is of any interest please contact us at outreach@waterworksswim.com :)

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University of Arizona Signs 6 Year Old

All athletes need motivation. It can stem from the thought of championships or records, but as the University of Arizona swim team has shown, sometimes others are all the motivation we need.

Saturday was rivalry day at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. It was Arizona versus Arizona State like so many times before. Only this time was different. You see, Saturday was Team Josie.

“Their hearts melted and I think it was love at first sight to be honest with you,” said University of Arizona assistant coach Brandy Maben.

Jocelyn “Josie” Coronado signed a national letter of intent with the University of Arizona swim team. She’s 6-years-old.

“Josie’s energy and her smile light up a room already,” Maben said, “to add that kind of energy and personality on to the team is a blessing for us.”

Josie isn’t a swim prodigy, in fact, she hardly knows how. The bubbly 6-year-old focuses her time and energy on her battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and the Wildcats took notice.

“A friend of mine, when I was 13, was diagnosed with cancer and we did a Team Megan kind of thing,” explained junior swimmer Bonnie Brandon. “I brought that idea to the team and thought it would be a good way to get everyone united and into this cause.”

“The doctors have to tell her, ‘Josie you have to tell us if something hurts’ because she’s always positive about everything and never complains,” said Josie’s mother Joanna. “I think that’s why she was nominated to represent the swimming and diving team here at the UofA.”

Saturday was Josie’s day. While she will certainly will never forget the joy it brought her, she likely doesn’t realize the impact she had on her new teammates.

“They’re inspired by everything she’s going through and everyone knows she’s never sad or never complains,” said Joanna. “She’s always been a fighter and that’s what amazes us. She’s always so positive.”

“The energy in the locker room was so high because we have somebody that we’re swimming for now,” added Brandon. “Somebody who looks up to us and needs us more than ever right now.”

What was Josie’s favorite part?

“Splashing in the water? Yeah.”

She may be shy around the camera, but Josie Coronado is already bringing positive energy to the Wildcat team.

“She already has some ideas for some cheers,” said Maben. “She thinks pink should be involved in our team more than it is, so that might come about.

“On deck she has some skills to be a good coach, so we’ll use her on deck too.”

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Swimming the Seven Seas

It all started with a dare amongst friends — who could swim from the California coast to Catalina Island? At just 14 years old, Lynne Cox swam the 27-mile distance between the shores in 12 hours and 36 minutes, beating her two other friends in the process. That was the moment she became hooked on the rush, the challenge, the action of pushing herself beyond limits, both mentally and physically, through long-distance swimming.

We’ve all heard these sayings before: “think big,” “there is nothing to fear but fear itself” and “follow your dreams,” but when I sat down with Lynne Cox to hear her life story, I realized that she embodied all these sayings and more. After boldly declaring that she was going to swim the English Channel, she received full support from her parents, who had her train with Olympic coach Don Gambil, swimming an average of 15 miles each day in preparation. On the day of the big swim, Lynne completed the journey in 9 hours 57 minutes, shattering the women’s record by an hour and the world record by 20 minutes — and she was only 15 years old. Astounded, I asked Lynn how she accomplished such an amazing feat at such a young age? What was going on in her mind? Wasn’t she was scared? And if so, how did she conquer that fear? Because the things that one can face while embarking on such long distance swims are no laughing matter.

Imagine plunging into the cold waters of a vast, dark ocean, not being able to see anything beneath you, nor the shore ahead of you, but just knowing the general direction you are supposed to go. Sure, there are team boats near you to guide you on the swim, but they are also only one strong tidal wave away from running you over, or being pushed far away from you so that you remain lost. You feel slimy, slippery life brush against your body underneath the dark water, but there is no time to stop or even think about what those beings can be. You push yourself for seven hours, hoping that the fog doesn’t roll in and make you invisible to your lifeline, the boats. You finally catch a glimpse of the shoreline as dawn begins to break, only to see it moving backwards as the current changes, and you realize, you’re so very close, but the water has turned against you and you must swim faster and harder than ever to meet your goal on the shore. Imagine all these mental and physical fears, all the while feeling cold, tired, and unsure of what is swimming beneath you. Imagine having all this in your head and still pushing your body beyond its limits in a race against time. How does one deal with such fears that can so easily hijack the brain?

“Reality is you are afraid” Lynn explains. “When you are swimming across a channel at midnight or two or three in the morning and the water is pitch black, you feel things moving underneath you and that can make you so scared. But you have support boats moving around you and when you feel it’s wrong, get out. The fear is there to make it safer…but you should be afraid that the fog might come in, that the boats might run you over – those are good fears. Just have a plan, and focus on what you are trying to do. If you focus on the fear, you’ll never do anything.” Some fears are innate in our system. If you are walking down a dark alley and you see someone in the corner of your eye, your body’s fight-or-flight mechanism kicks in to let you know that you should remove yourself from the situation. So in that sense, some fear is good. But other fears are only in your mind are mental blocks that are in the way of our goals, that tell us falsehoods like we can’t accomplish our goals because they are too big, too wild, or too scary. And after you shift your focus from your fears to your goals, what comes next? How do we keep ourselves motivated day after day, especially if our goals are so huge that they will require a significant amount time to accomplish, as well as many “learning lessons” along the way?

Lynne’s goal was no joke: breaking a world record. So I asked her, “How do you get into the mindset of breaking a world record?” Not only were Lynne’s parents extremely supportive, but she credits all those involved in every step of the process: her parents, her coach, the inspiring swimmers in her training facility, the team that steered the boat alongside her during the swim, the pilot that did the same from the air, and even the fans cheering her from both shores. “When I was training, I was swimming with swimmers from all over the world who were winning Olympic medals and I said to myself: wow, I want to be just like them. It really does matter who you hang out with. Your mindset is determined by the people around you.”

I had to ask, why did she set out to conquer all these incredible challenges? In the beginning, it was not to gain fame or notoriety; it was simply to overcome challenges in the spirit of adventure. Later in her career, as she continued to break records, her mission expanded to swim in the name of opening borders. Not only is Lynne a fearless adventurer; she is also a peacemaker, and her swims between borders have connected cultures and altered the dynamics between countries wrought with tension and conflict. In 1994, she swam from Egypt to Israel and Israel to Jordan, “as a way to celebrate peace in the Middle East,” as Lynn describes it. Not only did she have people on all three coasts waiting for her and cheering her, but she also had the support of the governments, as well as the Egyptian Navy and Israeli Navy working together to clear the waters for her swim. “When I finished the swim, Queen Noor wound up having a celebration for us in Aqbar, Jordan, so it was a way to really celebrate the progress and positive stuff going on in the Middle East.” The fact that she brought the Naval forces of two formerly conflicting countries to work together to celebrate peace is a remarkable indication of how her swims have brought people together and inspired hope and harmony. Lynne continued to open borders by swimming the Bering Strait, in hopes of fostering communication between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

I was so incredibly impressed with not only Lynn’s accomplishments but also her outlook on life. I asked her what her take-home message was. She answered: “Life is one time. You have to do what you need to do while you are here. People may not understand what you do, and your path may change along the way, but it is incredibly satisfying to set goals for yourself and achieve them.” I think what we all can learn from this amazing woman is to live life to the fullest, and not let our illusions of what we think we can or cannot do stop us from achieving our full potential.

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Swimming Pool Scrabble

Here is a fun game to play! Swimming Pool Scrabble! Write one letter on a sponge and spread them throughout the pool. Swimmers then dive into the pool and try to collect as many letters as possible. Whoever can create the longest word wins the most points! This game would be a blast to play at Recreation Swim, Family Swim Nights, or Birthday Parties.

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10 Words that Have a Different Meaning to Swimmers

There is no doubt that swimming, like any sport, has its own specialized vocabulary. But there are also some everyday words that have a completely different meaning to swimmers:

1)   SWIM CAP

What most people think it means: A silicone cap with flowers and a chin strap on it that your grandmother wears in the pool.

What swimmers think it means: A very trusted and necessary piece of swimming attire, with specific memories associated with each team cap, such as a hard set or incredible race tackled while wearing it.

2)   SWIMSUIT

What most people think it means: A purely fashionable item of summer clothing, the cuter or more colorful the better!

What swimmers think it means: Something worn for much of the waking hours, chosen with complete disregard for pattern, the tighter and more water dynamic the better!

3)   NAP

What most people think it means: A short and rare twenty-minute period of sleep, just to refresh.

What swimmers think it means: A sacred time of deep sleep, to be interrupted only when friends and family form a search party because they haven’t seen you all day, and even then, you’ll probably sleep through it.

4)   WINTER BREAK

What most people think it means: An awesome few weeks off from school where one is free to do whatever they want!

What swimmers think it means: A dreaded time of torture when swim coaches fill the swimmer’s vacation with strenuous three-hour practices and training trips.

5)   SHAVING

What most people think it means: An act of grooming to remove unwanted hair from your body.

What swimmers think it means: An extremely high risk and meticulous pre-meet ritual to remove every last hair from your body in order to possibly remove .005 seconds from your race time.

6)   TAPER

What most people think it means: A verb meaning to decrease or thin out over time.

What swimmers think it means: The single most glorious period of time, better than all holidays or birthdays combined, when you swim increasingly less in order to rest for a meet. See also: an excuse to get out of any and every physical activity or personal responsibility.

7)   BUTTERFLY

What most people think it means: A winged creature that is colorful, dainty, and beautiful.

What swimmers think it means: The most difficult, painful, and impressive stroke that causes most swimmers—except a select few—to tremble in fear.

8)   DRY LAND

What most people think it means: Any part of the earth that is not a body of water.

What swimmers think it means: A pre- or post-swim practice exercise regimen created to inflict additional demands of time and physicality on the swimmer.

9)   SLEEPING IN

What most people think it means: Waking up when your body feels naturally rested and revitalized, without the demands of a schedule or an alarm.

What swimmers think it means: When your alarm for morning practice is set to six o’clock in the morning instead of five.

10) SWIMMING

What most people think it means: A rare and fun activity that involves relaxing near a pool or just splashing around in one.

What swimmers think it means: My life.

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Why Swimmers Are Smarter Than You

Middle school may have been a helluva lot easier if you had spent a little more time in the pool. New research out of Australia says that children who are taught to swim at an early age hit certain physical and developmental milestones faster than kids who learn later in life.

Over the span of three years, researchers surveyed the parents of more than 7,000 children age 5 and under and found that the age kids learned to swim correlated with when they began accomplishing certain skills.

In pre-school, early swimmers had better visual-motor skills (like cutting paper and drawing lines and shapes), but also fared better as they got older (i.e. understanding directions, math, and writing and reading skills).

Turns out, some of what you learn in the classroom (or in your day-to-day experiences) is similar to what you learn in a pool, says lead study author Robyn Jorgensen, Ph.D., a professor and senior fellow at the Griffith Institute for Educational Research. There’s a strong synergy between language and action with swimming that’s essential for many cognitive and motor skills, she adds. Kids learn at an early age to hear language and make connections with their bodies (for example, counting to 10 while kicking).

And it doesn’t take long to see the effects, either: When researchers observed swimming lessons, they found that the kids’ eyes blinked in preparation for the ready cue — “one, two, three, go! ” — a clear sign that young kids can understand language and react accordingly even if they can’t communicate everything clearly.

Your move: Sign your kids up for lessons — and keep ‘em going. In Jorgensen’s study, the earlier the child started and the longer they remained in the swimming lessons, the greater the gains, she says.

And it wouldn’t hurt to jump in the pool yourself: Besides the added benefit of challenging yourself through switching up your workout, water is about 1,000 times denser than air, so a swim workout can be tougher on you. You’ll burn almost the same amount of calories each minute as you would biking — but you can kiss dodging traffic or worrying about your joints goodbye.