--- title: Swimming for Women's Health | Everyone Swims CIC description: How swimming and aqua aerobics support women's health through pregnancy, menopause and beyond. Women-only classes welcome. Book with Everyone Swims. image: https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/hubfs/swimming-for-womens-health-everyone-swims.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/stories/swimming-for-womens-health#main) [![Everyone Swims CIC](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/hubfs/raw_assets/public/2027/files/images/logo.svg)](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/) - [About](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/about) - [Stories](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/stories) - [Support Us](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) - [Contact](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/contact) [Donate](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) [Explore programmes](https://everyone-swims-cic.soak.ly/#/online-booking) [About](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/about) [Stories](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/stories) [Support Us](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) [Contact](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/contact) [Donate](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) [Explore programmes](https://everyone-swims-cic.soak.ly/#/online-booking) [Home](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/) › [Stories](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/stories) Blog # Swimming for Women's Health at Every Stage of Life Everyone Swims · Jun 28, 2026, 8:26:42 AM ![Woman smiling during a women-only aqua aerobics class at an Everyone Swims pool](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/hubfs/swimming-for-womens-health-everyone-swims.jpg) Learn to swim · 4 min read For a lot of women, exercise has a quiet way of feeling like one more thing to get wrong. The gym can feel like a stage. A fitness app can feel like a stern little voice in your pocket. And somewhere between work, family, caring for other people and simply getting through the week, the time to look after your own body tends to be the first thing that disappears. Water is different. It asks very little of you and gives a great deal back, which is one of the reasons swimming and water-based exercise remain some of the most popular ways for women in this country to stay active. This article looks honestly at what swimming and aqua aerobics actually do for women's health, from your twenties through pregnancy, into midlife and the menopause, and on through the years that follow. We have tried to be straight with you throughout, including about the few things the water cannot do, because you deserve clear information rather than a sales pitch. 6.8M women swam in England last year, more than men 1 in 10 women swim at least twice a month 47% of menopausal swimmers reported easier anxiety\* 30% reported milder hot flushes\* Sources: Swim England and Sport England participation figures. \*Self-reported, from a 2024 UCL study of cold-water swimmers. ## 02  Swimming is already one of women's favourite ways to move Here is something encouraging that does not get said often enough. Swimming is one of the few corners of fitness where women are the majority. According to figures from Swim England and Sport England, around 6.8 million women in England went swimming in the past year, comfortably more than the number of men, and roughly one in ten women now swims at least a couple of times a month. The fuller picture is more sobering. A stubborn gap in activity remains across the board, with well over a million more men than women active enough to benefit their health, even though most younger women say they genuinely want to move more. When women explain what keeps them away from the pool, the reasons are remarkably consistent: feeling self-conscious about their bodies, the cost, the lack of time, and for some, the long shadow of being judged, compared or even weighed in a school or club changing room years ago. That last one is serious enough that a parliamentary committee has formally called it out. Why this matters to us None of those barriers are the swimmer's fault. They are a sign the doors to the water have never been quite wide enough, and widening them is the entire point of a not-for-profit like ours. If that mission speaks to you, you can [support our work with a donation](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) and help us bring more women into the water who were quietly told that fitness was never really meant for them. ## 04  Staying active through pregnancy Pregnancy is one of the times the water earns its reputation most completely. The NHS is clear that staying active in pregnancy is safe and good for you, and it singles out swimming for a reason that will be obvious the first time you try it: the water carries the extra weight you are now carrying everywhere else. That support brings welcome relief to an aching back, sore hips and swollen legs, and it lets you keep moving comfortably when many land-based options have started to feel like hard work. Gentle swimming and aqua aerobics let you maintain your fitness right through to your due date if you feel up to it, and some research suggests women who stay active through pregnancy may have shorter, more straightforward labours. A few sensible cautions Avoid very warm water and anything that overheats you, such as hot tubs, especially early on. If you fancy open water, stick to monitored bathing spots, never swim alone, and treat cold water with real respect. And if your pregnancy has any complications, have a quick word with your midwife before you start. ## 05  Perimenopause, menopause and the years around them For many women, the years around the menopause are when exercise feels both hardest to face and most worth doing. Disturbed sleep, low mood, anxiety, aching joints, weight that shifts and settles in new places, and the now-famous hot flushes can all make the idea of a packed, sweaty gym deeply unappealing. Water meets you exactly where you are. There is growing interest in how swimming affects menopausal symptoms specifically. A 2024 study from University College London, published in the journal *Post Reproductive Health* and led by Professor Joyce Harper, surveyed more than 1,100 women, 785 of them going through the menopause. Among those women, swimming in cold water was linked with self-reported improvements in anxiety, mood swings, low mood and hot flushes, and most said they swam deliberately to ease their symptoms. "In the water, I can do anything. All symptoms, physical and mental, disappear and I feel like me at my best."A 57-year-old woman quoted in the 2024 UCL study It is worth being clear-eyed about what that study does and does not show. The women were describing their own experiences rather than being measured in a lab, they already chose to swim, and it focused on cold, open water rather than a heated pool. Cold water also carries genuine risks, from cold shock to effects on the heart, and it is not the right starting point for most beginners. The encouraging, transferable message is gentler: being in water, moving regularly and giving yourself a calm hour clearly helps with the mood, sleep and aches that define this stage of life, and a warm pool lets you reach for those benefits safely. ## 07  Body image, confidence and the value of women-only water For a surprising number of women, the swimming itself was never the problem. The hard part is the changing room, the costume, and the short walk to the water with the feeling that everyone is watching. Body image and self-consciousness come up again and again in research as reasons women avoid pools, and that is before you add the women for whom modesty or cultural comfort matters. This is exactly why women-only swimming makes such a difference. Take away the mixed audience and a great deal of the anxiety goes with it. The pool becomes a place to exercise, breathe and be yourself, whatever your shape, your age or your experience. At Everyone Swims we run a dedicated women-only aqua aerobics squad for those who feel more at ease without a mixed crowd, alongside classes that welcome everyone. No woman needs to justify wanting a space that feels safe, and for many, knowing exactly who will be in the room is the difference between booking a class and staying at home. Two things that surprise newcomers You do not need to be able to swim, because aqua aerobics happens in water shallow enough to stand in. And you do not need special kit beyond a costume, a towel and a bit of courage. You can [book a class at one of our locations](https://everyone-swims-cic.soak.ly/#/online-booking) and simply come along to see how it feels. Ready to feel that for yourself? Looking after your health is rarely about willpower. It is about finding a setting that feels safe and a pace that fits your life. For an enormous number of women, the water is both at once. [Book a class at one of our locations](https://everyone-swims-cic.soak.ly/#/online-booking) [Make a donation](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) Every woman deserves the chance to feel stronger, calmer and more at home in her own body. That includes you. Written by Janice Oliver ## Subscribe Here! Get stories, swim tips, and community news straight to your inbox. Subscribe → ## Ready to get in the water? [Book a lesson →](https://everyone-swims-cic.soak.ly/#/online-booking) ![Everyone Swims CIC](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/hubfs/raw_assets/public/2027/files/images/logo.svg) Everyone Swims CIC Registered Community Interest Company Not-for-profit · Asset-locked Eagle Tower, Montpellier Dr, Cheltenham, GL50 1TA, United Kingdom [contactus@everyoneswims.org.uk](mailto:contactus@everyoneswims.org.uk) [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/everyoneswimscic/) [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586594007369) #### Organisation - [About us](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/about) - [Our mission](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/about#mission) - [Stories](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/stories) #### Get involved - [Support us](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/support-us) - [Impact survey](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/impact-survey) - [Contact](https://www.everyoneswims.org.uk/contact) Copyright © 2026 Everyone Swims CIC. All rights reserved. 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