Participating in these water-based activities offers an excellent opportunity to relish the natural environment, experience an exhilarating surge of adrenaline, connect with the natural world, and enhance one’s emotional state. Additionally, engaging in water sports can result in various health advantages that can be explored further by reading on.

Improving Mental Focus and Clarity

The first essential benefit you can expect to get from playing water sports is the opportunity to achieve better mental clarity. For example, when you try something like surfing and swimming, your body and mind have to concentrate on a number of different muscles at the same time. This can not only develop your physical strength and add muscle mass but also help enhance your memory.

It’s also been proven that swimming is able to promote the growth of new brain cells that are typically keen to break down. They will deteriorate naturally over time due to various factors like age or stress. However, with the help of water sports like swimming, the brain cells can instead be recovered and improved. As such, when enjoying your favorite water activities, apart from getting full relaxation and a good mood, you will definitely be able to keep your mind as focused and active as possible.

Relieving Stress 

In today’s world, stress and pressure are unavoidable aspects of daily life. At times, we encounter situations and issues that lead to anxiety and significant stress. Therefore, we continuously seek out techniques to decrease and alleviate these negative effects. Engaging in water sports is one of the most effective methods to unwind your mind and rejuvenate your body, allowing you to release negative emotions.

At first glance, you may just find that you feel more active and energetic while playing water sports. However, if you go deep down and look on the inside, you can see that it’s connected with a drop in anxiety and stress. Engaging in water sports can help you build a more peaceful mindset, reduce the risk of depression, and also improve the overall quality and outlook of your life. 

In addition to swimming, there are other water-based activities that are highly effective at reducing stress, such as snorkeling and diving. These pursuits take place beneath the water’s surface, providing an opportunity to escape worldly concerns and embrace the tranquility and serenity unique to the ocean.

Bone Density

Water sports are not only good at boosting mental health but also physical strength. When looking at how water activities can benefit people on a physical level, the main advantage coming to mind is the improvement in bone density. As people age, their bones will naturally face the problems of strength loss and calcium lack, becoming more fragile and weaker as time goes on. And this situation can even worsen because of some intense sports, such as running on a treadmill.

Water sports, instead, are great helpers that can improve and increase your overall bone density. Precisely, water helps to remove the pressure on your bones, making the process of bone density improvement several times easier and more efficient. Even water activities that are not within the water, such as canoeing, paddling, water biking, and more, can also be useful in increasing bone mineral density.

Lowering The Risk of Chronic Diseases

Playing water sports can also help your body by greatly reducing the chance of developing a serious chronic disease. These sports require intense physical activity and exercise, meaning that every single part of your body gets some “work” to complete.

As such, after engaging yourself in a water sport for some time, you will be able to burn calories in a natural and healthy way. In addition, the process of metabolism will be multiple times faster, burning calories on a regular basis and warding off any possible development of serious diseases.

What’s more important, water sports can also help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and always stay energized, improving your immune system and boosting your mental health. 

What Else?

As you can see, the significance of water sports and their positive impact on health is something firmly curved on the ground. From mental health and energy replenishment to stress relief and physical strength: water activities can solve all essential health problems in a productive and efficient way.

If you also want to engage in water sports but are not sure where and how to begin your journey, just look at the offers and possibilities you have locally. It might be swimming, snorkeling, SUP paddle boarding, or wake boarding. Just pick the one suiting your preferences and get started. However, if you have a hard time deciding the type of water sports to engage in, you can try out a few options and see which one makes you feel good and fits your skills. Then you will definitely be able to make the right choice.

Also, don’t forget that it is never too late to try something completely new and unfamiliar to boost your overall health and life quality.

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The International Swimming Federation (French Federation Internationale de Natation, FINA) is an organization that unites most national swimming federations. The headquarters of the organization is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

History of water polo (origin and development)
The precursor of water polo can be considered a Japanese game, the essence of which was to pass the ball with special staves to the players of their team, while floating on straw barrels.

Modern water polo was invented by William Wilson in the second half of the XIX century. At first, the game was very similar to rugby, since the first editions of the rules were allowed to use force in fighting for the ball and holding the opponent. In addition, the field for the game of water polo was marked on the motionless body of water, and instead of the goal in the bottom of the reservoir were dug stick stick sticking out 30-40 cm above the surface of the water. The players had to swim to bring the ball into the goal.

Who invented water polo? Modern water polo was invented by William Wilson in the second half of the XIX century. In 1869, water polo was first introduced to the general public in London, at that time the game was called “soccer in the water” and had no clearly defined rules. In 1870 a committee of experts in the sport was convened to formalize the rules, but the committee did not achieve any results. Only in 1876, William Wilson made up the rules of the game of water polo, which remained relevant until 1890. Since 1900, the game has been listed as an Olympic sport, and the first world water polo championship was held in 1973.

The basic rules of water polo (in brief)
Time of play in water polo. A water polo match consists of four periods of 8 minutes each. The countdown of time in a period begins with the first touch of the ball.

How long is a water polo match? A water polo match consists of four periods of 8 minutes each. Each team is allowed only 25 seconds to attack, after 25 seconds the ball goes to the opposing team. The rules allow each team to take 4 timeouts per game in regular time and 1 timeout in extra time. Only the team in possession of the ball may take a timeout. Six field players and one goalkeeper may be on the field at any one time.

In water polo is prohibited: to attack a player who is not in possession of the ball; drown, drag, hold the player who is not in possession of the ball; drown the ball. Committed a gross mistake, the player is removed from the water for 15 seconds or until the end of the opponent’s attack time. When the penalty time expires, the player must return to the game. A gross mistake is punished by a free throw, which may be directed directly at the opponent’s goal if the offense occurred beyond the five-meter line of play, or played by passing. A player, who has earned 3 penalties, is removed until the end of the game with the right of replacement and sits on the bench with his cap unbuttoned.

Pool in water polo
The size of the field of play (pool) is 30 meters long and 20 meters wide for men and 25 and 17 meters wide for women. The depth of the pool in water polo should be at least 1.8 meters. The above dimensions of pools are relevant for all major competitions, including the Olympic Games. On the field there are the following markings: the middle line of the field (white); goal lines (white); 2, 4, 7-meter lines (red, yellow, green); the boundary of the playing field. The markings should be clearly visible throughout the game. Markings may be permanent or removable. At the end of the field of play, two meters from the corner of the field of play (opposite the official scoreboard) should be a red or other brightly colored sign.

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History of canoeing
Kayaks (Eskimo boats) and canoes (Indian cakes) have been in the service of mankind for many years. Their oldest prototypes count over 2000 years. Canoeing as a sport owes its inception to Scotsman John McGregor.

It was he who in 1865 designed a canoe he called Rob Roy. It was 4.57 meters long and 0.76 meters wide. For comparison, modern kayaks and canoes have the following dimensions: single – 5.2 m, twin – 6.5 m, kayak-four – 11 m, canoe-four – 9 m; the width of the boat is free.

MacGregor was very fond of traveling in central Europe, and very soon canoeing became internationally renowned. In 1866 the first rowing club was founded – The Royal English Canoe Club. Later similar clubs started to appear in America, Canada and Scandinavia. In 1867 the first canoe regatta was organized. In 1924 in Copenhagen (Denmark) was established an international organization – International Canoe Federation, which approved the size of boats and distances for competitions. In 1933, the first European Championship was held in Prague and in 1939 the first World Championship in canoeing was held in Vaxholm (Sweden). In 1924, the first exhibition races were held at the Olympic Games in Paris, but canoeing was included in the Olympic program only in 1936.

Rules
The following types of boats are used in canoeing competitions: single, double and four. The competition program includes both men’s and women’s heats.

Official races in canoeing are held at distances: for men – 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 20000, 42000 m, extra-long; for women – 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 20000, 42000 m, extra-long. In the 1000m races, competitors must adhere strictly to their lane, they must not get closer than 5m to the next boat in order that they cannot take advantage of the water current.

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Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a type of sailing that is the control of a light board on the water with a sail set on it. There is no rudder on the sailboat, so it is controlled by turning and tilting the mast with the sail in relation to the wind with your hands and steering the board itself with the keel and fin mounted on it with your feet. The direction of travel and speed depends on the position of the sail relative to the wind.

Sappboarding
SUP-boarding is rapidly gaining momentum in the sphere of water sports. This sport is very diverse, because you can ride the board in a variety of ways, either standing or kneeling or sitting. SUP-boards are quite stable, so those who have never tried to ride them, the first swim will not be difficult. And the listed advantages are not the only ones.

Snorkeling
Snorkeling is a type of swimming under the surface of water with a mask, snorkel and flippers. With such equipment you will be able to observe the underwater world for a long time, without much effort. Snorkeling is quite a popular activity, especially among children, who dive with great interest to see the bottom of the shells, pebbles and other details. The dive sites will be the most interesting places to go snorkeling. Watch for coral reefs, sea turtles, fish, and other creatures, and swim under the sandy bottom to see flatfish like stingrays and flounders.

Nibbing
Nibbing is an unusual water sport because the rider’s position while riding cannot be called “typical.” The board is designed to ride behind a boat or on a winch, only unlike wakeboarding, the rider is in a kneeling position. Hence the name “nibord”, which comes from the English words “knee” – knee and “board” – board.

Skimboarding
Skimboarding can be called a mixture of surfing and skateboarding. It is a young water sport and differs from surfing in that one does not have to swim far to catch a wave. The surfing itself takes place within the confines of the coast. In order to ride a board, you need to spread out on land and, jumping on the board, glide through the water or wet sand, performing simple or difficult tricks.

Bodyboarding
A bodyboard is a board designed for riding in a “lying down” position on the coastal waves. Bodyboarding does not require much equipment. To aid in riding, fins are most often used to make paddling and steering easier, as there are no fins on the bottom of the board. Riding a bodyboard is easy enough. For example, surfing requires some skills, while on a bodyboard you can catch a wave on the first try. If the wave is too big, then you need to duck under it, so as not to be carried back to shore, and it is best to start when the wave is about two meters from you.

Diving
Scuba diving is one of the most popular ways to relax with family or friends. Taking part in scuba diving brings a lot of positive emotions, because diving allows you to get a good look at the underwater world and see more underwater animals. In this case, to engage in scuba diving can be any healthy person. The list of restrictions is small. Currently, diving is very popular among the population. Cognition of the aquatic world involved in both adults and children. Trying diving, people can not imagine vacation without diving, because each time you get to know new places, as if you are in a parallel world, which has its own inhabitants and attractions. There is a misconception that diving is a difficult occupation for which you need a long training, but this is not true. People receive a certificate after 3-4 days of training. After that you will be able to pair up with a friend to explore the underwater world and observe it in all its glory!

Waterskiing
Water skis are similar in appearance to cross-country skis, but they do have differences. Water skis are wider, since the main thing for the athlete to stay afloat, so for a beginner to train, it is better to use the widest ski, since they are more stable.

There are several types of water skis, primarily single skis (slalom mono skis) and pairs. Some inexpensive pairs of recreational skis are equipped with a special loop for the back leg, so that the athlete can learn to ski in a slalom ski, without having to buy a separate expensive equipment.

Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding – one of the most popular and extreme entertainment on the water. It is a ride on a special board on the water surface behind the boat or on the winch, holding on to the halyard. This is a very spectacular sport! During the motion the athlete performs jumps, flips in the air or elements of the slalom.

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