Hej!
For me, the summer of 2022 is the summer of swimming! Even though I spend most of my time near the sea and enjoy swimming, I usually don’t go swimming more than ten times in a summer. Mostly because I feel like it’s a hassle afterwards when you “must” shower, wash your hair, moisturize and all of that stuff which I find extremely boring and really don’t want to waste time doing more often than I have to (especially in summer). But this year I decided to make an effort to go for a swim every day in July. I didn’t quite make it, but instead I kept going in August because I loved it.
In this post I am using the Swedish words badplats (“swimming place”) and brygga (“jetty”), because I think they are very good Swedish words. A badplats can be on a beach and/or a brygga - by the sea or on a lake. If I am in a new place and feel like going for a swim, I type in badplats in Google Maps and look at what’s nearby (I have done this many times this summer!). A badplats is looked after by the local municipality so the equipment should be safe, there should be some kind of toilet, parking, garbage bins, and life saving equipment, and the water quality should be checked regularly. Sometimes there are showers. Another way to find a badplats is to type [badplatser + the name of the municipality you are in] (for example badplatser Ystad kommun) into your preferred search engine - most municipalities keep updated lists with maps and addresses on their websites.
At a badplats which has many daily visitors, there is usually a sign indicating the quality of the water. This is part of an EU initiative to monitor and assess bathing water.
In Sweden swimming is considered an essential skill and is taught in schools from a young age, just like in many other countries. Many parents also take their kids to swimming schools long before they start school at age 6. There are fun badges (some of them dating back to 1934) for different levels of swimming to encourage learning to swim and being confident in water.
In order to receive a passing PE grade at the end of year 6 (age 12), the student must be able to swim 200 meters (usually breaststrokes are taught first), of which 50 meters backstroke. In addition, the student must be able to deal with emergency situations in water using life saving equipment during different seasons. In order to receive a passing PE grade at the end of year 9 (age 15), the student must be able to swim 200 meters, of which 50 meters backstroke. In addition, the student must be able to deal with emergency situations near water using alternative aids, during different seasons. However, since PE is not a core subject, you can still enter upper secondary school/high school without a passing grade in PE. But the point is that everyone is supposed to know how to swim and use life saving equipment in water, even though that is probably not the reality. (Swimming - like other skills - needs to be practiced, right?)
My summer of swimming: 47 swims in 19 different places in the sea, in lakes and in ponds
Swim #1
Date and time: July 1 around 7.30 pm
Location: Lake Tansen, Grycksbo, Dalarna province, Sweden
Air temperature: 22C
Water temperature: Not sure, but I guess 20C.
Feeling: Absolutely amazing. A perfect evening after a very rainy day and a sweaty hour long walk (mostly sweaty because of humidity, not because of exercise). How lucky am I to be able to go for a swim like this?!
Swim #2