Swimming Remains First Choice for Kids

Swimming Australia welcomes new data from the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) highlighting swimming as the sport of choice for Australian kids.

According to the ASC’s latest AusPlay National Sport and Physical Activity Participation Report, swimming has cemented its position as the most popular sport for girls and boys aged 0-14.

Pleasingly, the number of children participating in sport has also increased, with 47 per cent of the cohort, or just over 2.3 million children, engaged in physical activity at least once a week, up from 42 per cent last year.

Swimming Australia Executive General Manager – Sport Development, Kirin Lindop, believes the data reflects the trend seen in pools and waterways around the country.

“1 in 5 Australians currently engage in some form of swimming activity, swimming is in our DNA as a country, and that journey all begins with our children,” Lindop said.

“It’s encouraging to see so many young girls and boys continue to gravitate to our sport, and we are constantly identifying opportunities across our broad industry to amplify the avenues to start your swimming journey, like our recently established partnership with the Australian Swim Schools Association, creating an end-to-end pathway for swimming and water safety.”

“We also have a series of new national programs in development aimed at reducing any remaining barriers to participation as we recognise the evolving needs of the community and the growing trend seeking greater choice and flexibility in organised sport.”

“It’s exciting for our sport, and the industry as a whole to see so many Australians engaging in activity post pandemic and we remain committed to playing our role in providing opportunities that contribute to the health and wellbeing of our community.”

Swimming also remains a sport of choice beyond children, ranking in the top 5 most popular sport related activities for males and females across every other age demographic, including leading in the Females aged 35-54 and Females aged 55+ cohorts.

To read the full AusPlay report, click here.