Swimming is frequently touted as the perfect exercise, and while there's a lot to be said for it, no one ever drowned while bench pressing. OK, maybe somewhere someone did, but if so, they obviously chose a really bad place to set up their bench.
Swimming works a lot of muscle groups over most of your body all at once. It's an aerobic exercise, as well, with the bonus that it doesn't involve rhythmic dance moves led by some perky fascist in spandex with questionable taste in music.
Where swimming really has an advantage over most forms of exercise is that it's generally regarded as fun.
The vast majority of people are going to have a more positive response to the phrase "Hey, let's go swimming," than to "Hey, let's pretend to ride a bicycle while watching CNN with closed captions."
Swimming also is an exercise that most people -- no matter how poorly suited they are for other forms of exercise -- can partake in. Because the water provides buoyancy, you aren't hefting around all your weight and creating strain on your joints.
It's an excellent place to start if you are grossly overweight, arthritic or have a heart condition, but check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.
Sorry, I know you've heard that before, but I'm required to say that, just as Robbie Knievel is required to say "Don't try this at home, kids" three or four times a day.
The Las Vegas Valley is rife with public swimming pools, including municipal pools, private gym pools and, of course, Buccaneer Bay in front of the TI.
Be aware that swimming in Buccaneers Bay is restricted to pirates and scantily clad sirens, so carry bail money in a waterproof container.
What swimming isn't particularly good for is weight loss and muscle gain. Certainly in extreme cases it's the only option and thus the only way to lose weight, but for the majority of people who are not Ruben Studdard, there are better weight-loss exercises.
Perhaps it's simply that swimming is too efficiently exhausting. Many forms of exercise suppress appetite, but swimming seems to increase it.
It doesn't help to exercise for an hour if you feel moved to scarf down a double order of Moons Over My Hammy right afterward.
Swimming also doesn't build muscle efficiently because it forces most of the muscles involved to push in only one direction.
Technically, swimming involves primary concentric muscle action and uses very little eccentric muscle action, but that's a discussion for another time and perhaps a more serious columnist -- one who doesn't make jokes about Ruben Studdard's heft, for instance.
If you swim regularly, you probably will be more toned and flexible, you'll breathe better and your blood will flow better, and you will fill your body with happy little endorphins, which is more than sufficient in the benefits department.
After all, we don't all aspire to be throbbing piles of balloon-like muscles or the governor of California.
F. Andrew Taylor is a Las Vegas freelance writer. His column appears twice monthly. Contact him at fandrewt@cox.net.
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