Swimming Proverbs

Sayings about Swimming

An excellent compilation of proverbs and sayings about Swimming that convey meaningful lessons drawn from life experiences of various Nations, followed by quotations from the world's greatest authors and leaders.

The secret in swimming is to know how to take care of your clothes. ~ Spanish Proverb

High climbers and deep swimmers never grow old. ~ German Proverb

To swim and swim more, and be drowned on shore. ~ Spanish Proverb

As soon as stones can swim, leaves will sink. ~ Japanese Proverb

The dog learns to swim when the water reaches his ears. ~ Russian Proverb

Teach an eagle to fly, a dolphin to swim. ~ Latin Proverb

No man drowns if he perseveres in praying to God, and can swim. ~ Russian Proverb

The world is a round gulf, and he who cannot swim must go to the bottom. ~ Spanish Proverb

One cannot learn to swim in a field. ~ Spanish Proverb

It is too late to learn to swim when the water is up to your lips. ~ Danish Proverb

A mule can swim seven different strokes but the moment he sees the water he forgets them all. ~ Armenian Proverb

Either you sink or you swim. ~ Traditional Proverb

As long as the fish swims in the water, don't light up the grill. ~ Russian Proverb

Don't drown the man who taught you to swim. ~ English Proverb

Only in water can you learn to swim. ~ Czechoslovakian Proverb

If you destroy a bridge, be sure you can swim. ~ Swahili Proverb

It is good to swim near a boat. ~ German Proverb

Fish must swim three times: once in the water, a second time in the sauce, and a third time in wine in the stomach. ~ French Proverb

It is easy to swim, when another holds up your head. ~ Danish Proverb

The young goose is a good swimmer. ~ Arabian Proverb

No man can swim ashore and carry his baggage with him. ~ Latin Proverb

Swim on and don't trust. ~ French Proverb

Don't sell the fish that is still swimming in the ocean. ~ Turkish Proverb

When wine sinks, words swim. ~ Italian Proverb

It is hard to swim against the current. ~ Dutch Proverb

Deep swimmers and high climbers usually don't die in their beds. ~ Dutch Proverb

Quotations about Swimming

We swim because we are too sexy for a sport that requires clothes. ~ Author Unknown

When the earth floods from global warming, the swimmers will rule the world. ~ Author Unknown

Mainly, I like to have fun. Swimming is all about having fun, and I am 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

Each person has his own safe place – running, painting, swimming, fishing, weaving, gardening. The activity itself is less important than the act of drawing on your own resources. ~ Barbara Gordon

The only recorded instance in history of a rat swimming towards a sinking ship. ~ Winston Churchill

Swimming isn’t everything, winning is. ~ Mark Spitz

All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Thinking about swimming isn’t much like actually getting in the water. Actually getting in the water can take your breath away. ~ Barbara Sher

Remember to do the things you enjoy away from swimming, regularly. ~ Ian Thorpe

Our natures are a lot like oil, mix us with anything else, and we strive to swim on top. ~ Francis Beaumont

Swimming upstream in the music business is a hard thing to do. ~ John Oates

He who burns his bridges better be a damn good swimmer. ~ Author Unknown

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

Enjoy swimming for swimmings sake. We have to spend far too much time in the water to not enjoy the process challenging yourself of moving through the water. ~ Jeff Rouse

If you go parachuting, and your parachute doesn’t open, and you friends are all watching you fall, I think a funny gag would be to pretend you were swimming. ~ Jack Handy

Sometimes God calms the storm. At other times, he calms the sailor. And sometimes he makes us swim. ~ Author Unknown

Water for me is so essential, like swimming. ~ Nastassja Kinski

It’s been told that swimming is a wimp sport, but I don’t see it. We don’t get timeouts, in the middle of a race we can’t stop and catch our breath, we can’t roll on our stomachs and lie there, and we can’t ask for a substitution. ~ Dusty Hicks

In the world who knowes not to swimme, goes to the bottome. ~ George Herbert

We cross the stream of life at different places. Some wade through the shallows in a drought, others have to swim across deep waters in a storm. ~ Charles Edward Jerningham

When you have to cope with a lot of problems, you’re either going to sink or you’re going to swim. ~ Tom Cruise

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

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 - what real men do while boys play football. ~ Author Unknown

People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground. ~ Marcel Proust

Don’t wait for your ship to come in – swim out to it. ~ Author Unknown

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

England always seems to me like a man swimming with his clothes on his head. ~ Henry James

Good swimmers at length are drowned. ~ George Herbert

On matters of style, swim with the current, on matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

If the world was flat I'd probably swim off it. ~ Author Unknown

Isn’t having a smoking section in a restaurant like having a peeing section in a swimming pool? ~ Author Unknown

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

Religion is like holding on to a rock in the middle of a raging river; faith is learning how to swim. ~ Author Unknown

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

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

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream. ~ Malcolm Muggeridge

I always wanted to be Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. I can’t fly, but swimming is the next best thing. It’s harmony and balance. The water is my sky. ~ Clayton Jones

Survival is the ability to swim in strange water. ~ Frank Herbert

One can read all one wants, and spend eternities in front of a blackboard with a tutor, but one is not going to learn to swim until one gets in the water. ~ David Mamet

You can swim all day in the Sea of Knowledge and still come out completely dry. Most people do. ~ Author Unknown

The person who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. ~ Woodrow T. Wilson

While I’m swimming, I sing songs in my mind. ~ Alexandr Popov

Eat, sleep and swim. That’s all I can do. ~ Michael Phelps

Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked. ~ Warren Buffett

Swimming is one of the hardest sports. ~ Stephanie Rice

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

If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I’d still swim. And I’d despise the one who gave up. ~ Abraham H. Maslow

If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it! ~ Jonathan Winters

Never offer to teach a fish to swim. ~ Author Unknown

Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and heart to this vote. ~ Daniel Webster

Like swimming, riding, writing, or playing golf, happiness can be learned. ~ Boris Sokoloff

Saying about swimming


The Joy of Swimming: A Celebration of Our Love for Getting in the Water. ~ Book preview