77 Motivational Swimming Quotes That Make a Splash (2022)

These summer swimming quotes will have you ready to dive into the water!

Swimming is an excellent hobby and a great way to stay in shape. This collection of swimming quotes will inspire you to make a big splash.

What can you say about swimming?

Whether you dive into the ocean or wade into a pool, the most important aspect of swimming is that you have fun. Even if you’re a competitive swimmer who trains every day, there are still ways you can find joy and beauty in swimming. These famous swimming quotes will remind you why you fell in love with the water in the first place.

If you’re a swimmer, you’ll love these inspirational quotes about diving straight into the water. Whether you’re a coach, a team member, or a hobbyist, it’s important to remember to never give up.

Read these motivational swimming quotes to inspire yourself to work hard during practice and try your best.

Don’t forget to also check out these perfection quotes that inspire excellence.

Motivational swimming quotes that make a splash

1. “Believe in yourself, not only in swimming but in life itself. You always have to have fun. You have to have an open mind. If you’re not enjoying it, don’t do it. Life’s too short.” – Debbie Meyer

2. “A huge part of swimming for me is I love it, and it is so much fun.” – Missy Franklin

3. “Swimming is a confusing sport, because sometimes you do it for fun, and other times you do it to not die. And when I’m swimming, sometimes I’m not sure which one it is.” – Demetri Martin

4. “Somehow I kept my head above water. I relied on the discipline, character, and strength that I had started to develop as that little girl in her first swimming pool.” – Esther Williams

5. “Swimming has its educational value – mental, moral, and physical – in giving you a sense of mastery over an element, and of power of saving life, and in the development of wind and limb.” – Robert Baden-Powell

6. “The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it.” – Woodrow Wilson

7. “Swimming is normal for me. I’m relaxed. I’m comfortable, and I know my surroundings. It’s my home.” – Michael Phelps 

8. “I love going to the beach and swimming in the ocean. I think it’s so relaxing. It’s also a great form of active recovery. It’s perfect for those rest days when you still want to move a little bit.” – Eugenie Bouchard

9. “When you prepare for something, it’s like jumping into cold water, but you’re prepared. You jump in. And you start swimming, or if you don’t swim, you drown.” – Rza

10. “Swimming isn’t everything, winning is.” – Mark Spitz

Swimming quotes that will have you ready to dive into the water

11. “I actually love swimming but I just hate jumping in the water.” – Natalie Coughlin

12. “The water is your friend…..you don’t have to fight with water, just share the same spirit as the water, and it will help you move.” – Alexandr Popov

13. “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” – Warren Buffett

14. “I love to watch the movement of light on water, and I love to play in rivers and lakes, swimming or canoeing. I am fascinated by people who work with water – fishermen, boatmen – and by a way of life that is dominated by water.” – Berlie Doherty

15. “This life is like a swimming pool. You dive into the water, but you can’t see how deep it is.” – Dennis Rodman

16. “I’m just a simple guy swimming in a sea of sharks.” – Don Johnson

17. “Do activities you’re passionate about – which make your heart and soul feel perky – including things like working out, cooking, painting, writing, yoga, hiking, walking, swimming, being in nature, being around art, or reading inspiring books.” – Karen Salmansohn

18. “I’m so used to swimming with the piranhas. And they’re really not that bad.” – Brie Larson

19. “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

20. “Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement – and we will make the goal.” – Robert Collier

Swimming quotes that will make you fall in love with the water

21. “I concentrate on preparing to swim my race and let the other swimmers think about me, not me about them.” – Amanda Beard

22. “All good writing is swimming underwater and holding your breath.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

23. “I want to test my maximum and see how much I can do. And I want to change the world of swimming.” – Michael Phelps

24. “To achieve fitness one need not hit the gym. One can always opt for any sport: yoga, jog, swimming, and much more. The idea is to do something that not only burns calories but relieves stress as well.” – Milind Soman

25. “Swimming is one of the hardest sports.” – Stephanie Rice

26. “On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock. – I can’t really do the running on hard ground that I used to do. Instead, I go swimming as often as possible.” – Jamie Dornan

27. “I love to exercise outside in the fresh air and sun: hiking, swimming, stand-up paddleboarding, and jogging.” – Colbie Caillat

28. “Many people cycle or swim to keep trim. But if swimming is so good for the figure, how do you explain whales?” – Charles Saatchi

29. “I want people to see the passion I have for swimming and become more involved in the sport.” – Ryan Lochte

30. “To me, the sea is like a person – like a child that I’ve known a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea, I talk to it. I never feel alone when I’m out there.” – Gertrude Ederle

Swimming quotes to inspire and motivate

31. “For myself, losing is not coming second. It’s getting out of the water knowing you could have done better. For myself, I have won every race I’ve been in.” – Ian Thorpe

32. “Remember, a dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim upstream.” – W. C. Fields

33. “I told myself there was no way I was going to let this training go to waste. It was my time, and I was ready to go.” – Katie Hoff

34. “In most sports, they have a physical effect on your performance, in swimming only psychological. If you worry about what your rival is doing, you take your mind off what you are doing and so fail to concentrate on your performance.” – Bachrach

35. “It’s unbelievable I’m swimming so fast. I went in with no expectations. I just went out hoping to get a personal best. I went out there with a smile, just to have fun and see what would happen.” – Jade Edmistone 

36. “I can’t control what everyone else swims but if all goes well I know there are no limits.” – Leisl Jones

37. “To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead, you relax, and float.” – Alan Watts

38. “I’ve just been enjoying the training a bit more. I’ve put too much pressure on myself in the past. Just relax and let it come. I just went out there to have a bit of fun tonight.” – Sophie Edington 

39. “Don’t wait for your ship to come in. Swim out to it.” – Steve Southerland

40. “I swam the race like I trained to swim it. It is not mathematical. I just let my body do it. It is a lot easier if you let your body do what it is trained for.” – Ian Thorpe

Swimming quotes to motivate you

41. “While I’m swimming, I sing songs in my mind.” – Alexandr Popov

42. “I know I’ve made huge gains in my confidence and knowing more about my racing and myself as a person. That has made me a better athlete.” – Libby Lenton

43. “Tonight was not about winning, it was about focusing on myself and what I was aiming to do. It’s the reason why I was able to swim so well.” – Libby Lenton 

44. “I have been visualizing myself every night for the past four years standing on the podium having the gold placed around my neck.” – Megan Quann

45. “Don’t be a fish; be a frog. Swim in the water and jump when you hit the ground.” – Kim Young-ha

46. “We shall not be happy unless we live like good animals, unless we enjoy the exercise of the ordinary functions of life: eating, sleeping, loving, walking, running, swimming, riding, sailing.” – William Morris

47. “I have stayed active. I do keep moving. But I should start swimming more. Great exercise.” – Marv Levy

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of exercise quotes to inspire long term thinking.

48. “My preference is swimming in the sea. I find the sea is more liberating, wild and good fun rather than plodding up and down a pool.” – Jo Brand

49. “I try to separate my personal life from swimming.” – Michael Phelps

50. “Mainly, I like to have fun. Swimming is all about having fun, and I am a firm believer that you should keep swimming as long as you are having fun, but I can say that it becomes much more fun as you get older and learn more about the sport, life, and especially more about yourself.” – Scott Goldblatt

More swimming quotes

51. “Water was something he loved, something he respected. He understood its beauty and its dangers. He talked about swimming as if it were a way of life.” ― Benjamin Alire Sáenz

52. “When you truly sing, you sing yourself free. When you truly dance, you dance yourself free. When you walk in the mountains or swim in the sea, again, you set yourself free.” ― Jay Woodman

53. “Some fish love to swim upstream. Some people love to overcome challenges.” ― Amit Ray

54. “The most risky day in the world will be the day the bird will decide to swim and the fish will decide to fly. Stay glued to what you can do.” ― Israelmore Ayivor

55. “When you are learning swimming, try to swim like a fish! Target the best so that you can always easily reach good and better!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

56. “Swimming was the opposite of panic attack. Fluid and calm and quiet.” ― John Corey Whaley

57. “People who swim very well in troubled waters are respected and celebrated than those who swim excellently in calm waters.” – Israelmore Ayivor

Swimming quotes for water lovers

58. “Swimming gives me immense satisfaction.” -Laura Dutta

59. “As long as I’m enjoying swimming, I will keep swimming.”  -Cate Campbell

60. “Swimming is a life-saving skill, so just the fact that the sport that I love can give so much back to other people – and inspire them to join something that they never thought they could do or go after their dreams – is something that is really special to me.”  -Simone Manuel

61. “Swimming is my passion and something that I love.”  -Natalie du Toit

62. “I was scared of water, so I learnt swimming.” -Geeta Phogat

63. “Enjoy swimming for swimming’s sake. We have to spend far too much time in the water to not enjoy the process of challenging yourself of moving through the water.” – Jeff Rouse

64. “If you want to learn to swim, jump into the water. On dry land, no frame of mind is ever going to help you.” -Bruce Lee

65. “Swimming is about the mind too. To find rhythm in the water is to discover a new way of being in the world, through flow.” – Bonnie Tsui

66. “Swimming is simply moving meditation.” – Cesar Nikko Caharian

67. “I was so relaxed in the water, it felt amazing.” – Pieter van den Hoogenband

Swimming quotes that will encourage you

68.   “Being happy outside the pool means fast swimming in the pool.” – Eric Shanteau

69. “You are always racing against the other swimmers, but I always try to just focus on what I’m doing and how I want to swim my races.” – Katie Ledecky

70.  “It’s a beautiful thing, diving into the cool crisp water and then just sort of being able to pull your body through the water and the water opening up for you.” – Dawn Fraser

71. “If you’re scared to lose rather than excited to win, then that’s the wrong way to approach a race.” – Cate Campbell

72. “It’s easy to forget when you’re an elite athlete that everyone else gets nervous as well. Even the best people in the world, at whatever they do, they’re still nervous.” – Leisl Jones

73. “I knew I had all kinds of work to do and I left no stone unturned. But on the day I actually got to the Olympics there was this incredible, overwhelming, feeling that someone has to win this race and why not me?” – Mark Tewksbury

74. “In Athens I was 17 and I didn’t have any expectations. I was just swimming fast and racing everybody.” – Laure Manaudou

75. “The best swimmers are the ones that almost don’t try the most… It’s just about relaxing and enjoying it.” – Cate Campbell

76. “Never worry about what anyone else is doing…Just swim your own race.” – Dara Torres

77.  “I’ve swum for my country, I’ve swum for my coaches and my schools and my teams. I decided this time I was going to swim for myself.” – Janet Evans

What are your favorite swimming quotes about diving in without fear?

Never give up on your swimming and diving dreams. If you believe in yourself and have the swimming skills, you can go the distance and reach your goals. These swimming quotes will motivate you and encourage you to pursue your passion. 

These inspirational quotes are proof that swimming is a way of life for many people. The motivational quotes from the minds of famous swimmers will help you learn more about their philosophies and perspectives.

Once you understand that swimming can be considered a lifestyle, you will begin to view this exercise in a different light. Share this list of amazing quotes with all the swimmers in your life to highlight what swimming has taught you.

What are your favorite swimming quotes and sayings about getting your feet wet? Let us know in the comment section below