I swam throughout middle and high school at the insistence of my dad, which is probably the single most valuable thing he encouraged me to do. My high school had a lousy program, so I was able to excel and swim on varsity from 9th grade. When I have access to a pool I get back into the swing of things and get up to about 1.5 miles a day in.
Great for the mind and body, a byproduct of swimming that is rarely mentioned is that since you're essentially on your own with nobody able to talk to you, it's nice to be able to check out of reality for that time and just concentrate on stroke, power and rhythm. My mind always feels much sharper when I'm done swimming, which I am nearly positive is a result of that checkout period.
Finally, if you're swimming through puberty, I feel it really helps you stay lean as you begin to grow older. I'm going to be 30 this year, and there's at least a few people from every other sport in h.s. that has gotten fat, but not so for the swimmers. All the people I swam with are either lean, or if they're girls, still have a smoking hot body...another great advantage to being a swimmer
