The national governing body has launched its Swimming as Medicine series, with videos outlining how transformative being active in water can be for individuals.

Regular swimming has been proven to help reduce the risk of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. It is also beneficial for those with arthritis, obesity, and joint pain, as the buoyancy of water reduces the impact on joints.

However, despite the clear benefits of swimming to individuals and communities, it is an option that can be overlooked within healthcare circles.

“Our Value of Swimming report highlighted that more than 14 million people in England swim at some point each year, making it one of the nations’ most popular forms of activity. Yet in conversations with patients, some healthcare professionals might find it easier to suggest walking and other activities with fewer perceived benefits to encourage the least active to be active,” said Andrew Power, Swim England water wellbeing specialist.

“In some senses, that could be the right course of action to follow and might work for some. However, we know from our own research that one in three people with a long term health condition or impairment would prefer to swim if given the choice. We also know that both people and professionals feel that water has a unique ability to support those who may be hesitant to engage in other forms of physical activity, either due to lack of fitness, chronic pain, lack of balance, poor mobility or other barriers.”

The Swimming as Medicine videos direct people to Swim England’s Poolfinder tool, which contains information on thousands of pools across the country.

Healthcare professionals or their patients can use Poolfinder to search for local pools that have the right support in place to meet their needs, such as dementia friendly swimming or aquatic physiotherapy support in warm water hydrotherapy pools.