Both of my kids do swim team year round. (We live in California- most kids are on the swim team at some point!). They swim 45 minutes 4 nights a week and do swim meets 1-2 times a month.
Swimming is basically an individual sport. Neither one was very good or liked team sports- we tried soccer and T-ball. My kids are small for their age are very physically fit due to the swimming. My 8 year old is close to qualifying for the junior olympics in breaststroke.
There are studies showing that regular physical exercise builds your brain, esp. the amygdala, where memories are produced. I figure, if all they get out of swimming it that are not obese as adults (as 30% or more of adults are!), hey, that was worth swimming!
