A sport is defined by collier’s Encyclopedia as any physical activity which diverts or amuses. It can be divided into two categories:
Organized Competition : soccer, track & field etc and physical recession : swimming. In modern sport, swimming can he classified as under Athletics.
Research shows that swimming is the most popular recreational sports in USA during summer, while bowling during winter period.
To encourage people to take part in fitness program, the incorporation of sports in the physical & Health Education curriculum in various schools was initiate by the USA.
In this part of the world sports need all the necessary support and encouragement in terms of funding.
Swimming has a world body called FINA, which is like FIFA to soccer but the body FINA, considers swimming as an Amateur sport where the interest of the athlete is paramount with little financial reward.
But FIFA give grants to soccer
federation because they have funds generated from so many sponsors e.g, Mac-Donald’s, Fuji – films Master-card, and Coca-Cola and so on.
Soccer is a professional sport where the player has no limit financial though
to what he could achieve on his own. Therefore swimming by reckoning should be funded by corporate institutions because of the many benefits that could be derived from it, such as:
- The healthiest sport of all
- Life saver
- Builds self-esteem
- Alleviation of some medical disorders
- Good therapy for stress
- Multiple recreational uses and above all
- Multiple Gold medals, hopeful per competition as much as 64 medals
Recommended Rehabilitative sports for the handicapped. Swimming could achieve all the above mentioned feats or targets, logically corporate bodies, NGO’s.
Journalists, Sport Administrators and so on should see it as a social responsibility or duty to elucidate on all this advantages instead of the excuse that “Handicaps can’t swim” the people should decide on what is best for them or rather most beneficial for them, economically at least.
Swimming, if properly encourage, since the federation has little or nothing to run it, could perhaps alleviate some socials vices, we have around; including reducing the number of drowning cases been experienced during festive periods, the Government owes us this responsibility to ensure that adequate electronic/print media publicity is given to create the necessary awareness.
For the populace to be motivated, they should sponsor competitions to establish a proper developmental program at the grass roots level and to encourage upcoming talents around in our locality thereby establishing the fact that swimming is ultimately the “Mother of all sport” N.B: FIFA-Federation International Football Associaton FINA-Fed International de Notation Amateur.