Every year, Sport Australia surveys 20,000 Australians to track how they engage with sport and physical activity. The results of the 2019 AusPlay Survey were recently released, including some encouraging data for swimming.
Swimming is the organised activity of choice for a large proportion of Australian children aged 0-14, ahead of football and gymnastics. In fact, for children aged under 15 years, Victoria has the highest participation rate across the country at 36.8%.
We all know the important role our swimming clubs play in providing opportunities and pathways for our swimmers. The AusPlay results show that sporting clubs are the primary avenue for children’s organised activity, with almost half of Australia’s children involved in a sports club outside of school hours.
For adults (aged 15 +), the dominant reason to participate in swimming was physical health and fitness (51%) with fun/enjoyment also a key motivator at 34%. Pleasingly swimming was also listed as one of the activities with the most gender equity amongst adults.
Click here to see more detail from the survey.
