The NABAIJI sports

Swimming is without doubt one of the most popular, universal and widely followed sports in the world. Swimming is open to people of all ages, as a form of recreation, leisure, relaxation or competition. Some even say that swimming is the only sport that is possible for an entire lifetime!

Swimming has numerous physical and psychological benefits. Swimming exercises all our muscles, improves our cardiac and respiratory functions and our blood circulation... As a non-contact sport in which our bodies are supported, swimming combines the benefits of physical exercise with the beneficial properties of water.

Competitive swimming consists of covering a given distance as quickly as possible, in a pool, without the help of any accessories and in a style defined by the International Swimming Federation (FINA). There are four competitive swimming strokes:front crawl (also called freestyle), backstroke, breaststroke and the butterfly.

Swimming became an Olympic sport for men in 1896, and for women in 1912.

Although it is still less prominent than indoor competitive swimming, open water swimming is gaining in popularity. As soon as you start open water swimming, the numerous physical and psychological benefits quickly become apparent.

Open water swimming (OWS) refers to swimming in the sea, lakes and rivers. Consequently, open water swimming is possible in any outdoor watercourses. This means that open water swimming is readily accessible, because there are so many available venues.

Open water swimming also brings us very close to nature. It is an outdoor sport that is practised in harmony with the environment that surrounds us. It brings a sensation of freedom and total disconnection! Open water swimming is also excellent for our bodies, because it reinforces our immune system, regenerates our metabolism, improves our endurance, stimulates our cardiovascular system and builds up our muscles.

It is often a group activity that helps to build a sense of camaraderie, unity and sharing, but also for safety reasons.

It is also possible to open-water swim alone just for fun, or in competitions or organised crossings.

Open water swimming became an Olympic sport at the 2008 Games in Beijing

The origin of this sport from Sweden is a simple bet between a group of friends! The goal is to hop between the islands in an archipelago as quickly as possible, without any equipment or form of assistance. As the name suggests, swimrun is a sport that combines swimming and running. The discipline was officially born in Sweden in 2006, with the organisation of the first Ö till Ö (or island to island). In the meantime, this race has become the world championship.

As the name suggests, swimrun combines trail-type running and open water swimming. All the races take place in the open air in natural settings. What is special about a swimrun, is that the swimrunners swim and run wearing the same kit: a neoprene wetsuit, shoes, goggles, a cap, hand paddles...Swimrunners need a complete outfit!

Swimrunners compete in pairs. In fact, the members of a pair are tied together by a tow line.

Every swimrun race is different and the distances vary. The races can be held in lakes, in the sea, on beaches or in the mountains.

Combining the benefits of fitness training with those of water. That is what aquafitness achieves. You can tone up and get fit thanks to a variety of exercises, choreographed movements and rhythmic music.

Aquafitness is accessible to anyone of any age! Water offers 360° resistance, and it massages your skin during every single movement you make. Consequently, it offers numerous benefits: it tones up your body, strengthens your muscles without harming your articulations, exercises your core and stabilising muscles and improves your blood circulation. Not to mention the fun and social dimension of this activity.

It includes gentle forms of exercise, like aquagym or aquayoga, and other more dynamic cardio-oriented activities, like aquafitness, aquabiking or aquajogging. There is certainly a wide variety of exercises that you can do in water!

Artistic swimming, which was previously known as synchronised swimming, is an elegant combination of gymnastics, dance and swimming. This discipline involves sequences of figures, acrobatic lifts and synchronised dancing to music that demand endurance, strength, grace and suppleness.

Artistic swimming is not only for women! Most, but not all, artistic swimmers are women. More and more men are taking up this sport.

Artistic swimming became an Olympic sport in 1984. Today, it is still one of the two Olympic sports for women only. The World Championships were opened up to men in 2015.

Water polo is a team sport played in water. Two goals, two teams and one objective: to win the game by scoring as many goals as possible. A water polo match lasts 32 minutes.

You have to be very fit to play water polo, because it is a sport that demands a great deal of energy. When you play water polo, you cannot touch the bottom of the pool! Therefore, you need to know how to back-paddle and swim the polo crawl in order to stay on the surface and move around the pool. This team sport is a great way to improve your endurance, stimulate your cardiovascular system and build up your muscle strength without harming your articulations.

Water polo became an Olympic sport at the Paris Games in 1900. At that time, only men were allowed to play water polo. The FINA became the ruling authority of water polo in 1911. Women's water polo only became an Olympic sport at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

An endurance practice affiliated with the Federation of Hiking and with more practitioners each year, the long coast has many benefits on physical as well as mental health.

The water walking is practiced in the water (obviously along a coast) and consists of walking, busting out of the water, with or without a paddle. Practicing at any age, alone or in a group, this sport does not need to know how to swim but simply to like walking and to feel comfortable in the aquatic environment.

The water walking can be similar to water hiking and has a myriad of benefits for body and mind. First, it improves your physical condition smoothly without having to deal with soreness. Second, aquatic activity will have the effect of natural lymphatic drainage. Finally, becoming one with water and entering into communion with nature will bring you a feeling of well-being that is difficult to match.