November 30, 2022 by Luis F. Dominguez Spanish Vocabulary 0 comments

Essential Swimming Vocabulary in Spanish (100+ Words!)

Have you ever wondered how to say “swim” in Spanish? Would you like to learn some useful and popular swimming terms?

If your answer to those questions are yes and yes, then you’re at the right place!

Today, I’ll introduce you to all things related to swimming in Spanish. From the most basic swimming terminology, to swimming-related verbs and swimming phrases.

Keep reading to learn helpful swim words for your next swimming lesson in Spanish.

Also, here you’ll find out about indoor and outdoor swimming pools, oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water where you can swim!

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Spanish Vocabulary for Your Swimming Lessons

Before starting to swim, people usually take a few swimming lessons. So, let’s begin by learning some essential swimming terms you may hear during your swimming classes.

Swimming Terminology

The following is a list of some of the most common swim words in Spanish.

English	Spanish
swimming instructor	el instructor de nado
coach	el entrenador
student	el alumno, el estudiante
swimming	la natación
swimmer	el nadador, la nadadora
swimming school	la escuela de natación
swimming lessons	las clases de natación
traning session	el entrenamiento
basic exercises	los ejercicios básicos
practice	la práctica

Verbs for Swimming

Some of the most important words to describe swimming in Spanish are verbs. So, let’s now find out the most common swimming-related verbs in Spanish.

English	Spanish
to swim	nadar
to stroke	bracear
to kick	patear, patalear
to breath	respirar
to dive	bucear
to dive in	sumergirse
to teach	enseñar
to learn	aprender
to train	entrenar
to dry off	secarse
to compete	competir
to win	ganar
to lose	perder
to splash	chapotear, salpicar
to float	flotar

Swimming Styles

Some of the most important swimming terms you may hear in a swimming lesson are the different swimming styles.

English	Spanish
freestyle stroke	el estilo libre
butterfly stroke	el estilo mariposa
breakstroke	el estilo pecho
backstroke	el estilo dorso, el estilo espalda
side stroke	la marinera
treading water	la bicicleta
doggy paddle	nadar de perrito
types of strokes	los estilos de natación
open water swimming	la natación en aguas abiertas

Swimming Phrases

If you want to swim in Spanish you’ll need to learn some commons swimming phrases and questions like these:

English	Spanish
Learning to swim	Aprender a nadar
Do you know how to swim?	¿Sabes nadar?
We’re going to start the lesson	Vamos a empezar la clase
The training session is over	El entrenamiento ha terminado
To warm up	Para calentar
Is this your first lesson?	¿Es tu primera clase?
Keep your breath in	Aguanta la respiración
What time does the lesson start?	¿A qué hora empieza la clase?
Don’t be afraid	No tengas miedo
You can do it!	¡Tú puedes hacerlo!

Example Spanish Conversations Between Swimming Instructor and Student

With all the new vocabulary you just learned, let’s try to put it together in a couple of example conversations between a swimming instructor and a student.

Spanish Dialogue 1 (with English Translation)

– Hola, ¿es tu primera clase?

– Hola, sí.

– ¿Sabes nadar?

– No.

– No tengas miedo, ¡tú puedes hacerlo!

– Gracias. ¿A qué hora empieza la clase?

– A las 4:00 pm.

—

– Hi, is your first lesson?

– Hi, yes.

– Do you know how to swim?

– No.

– Don’t be afraid; you can do it!

– Thank you. What time does the lesson start?

– At 4:00 pm.

Spanish Dialogue 2 (with English Translation)

– Vamos a empezar la clase.

– ¡Genial!

– Para calentar vamos a mover los brazos en círculos.

– ¿Así, profesor?

– ¡Así, muy bien!

– Ahora, cada uno de ustedes tiene que nadar 200 metros estilo mariposa.

– ¡Entendido!

—

– We’re going to start the lesson.

– That’s great!

– To warm up, we’re going to move our arms in circles.

– Like this, teacher?

– Like that, very good!

– Now, each of you must swim 200 meters butterfly stroke.

– Got it!

Swimming in a Pool: Spanish Vocabulary

So, how do you say swimming pool in Spanish?

In this section, I’m introducing you to the most useful Spanish vocabulary for swimming pools.

Indoor Swimming Pools

Let’s start with the swimming terms mostly used in indoor swimming pools.

English	Spanish
swimming pool	la piscina
indoor swimming pool	la piscina techada
changing room	los vestidores
trunks	el bañador
swimsuit	el traje de baño
bikini	el biquini
swimming cap	el gorro de nado
swimming bag	la bolsa de nado
lockers	los armarios
shower	la ducha, la regadera
goggles	los lentes de nado
diving board	el trampolín
nose clip	la pinza nasal
flippers, fins	las aletas de buceo

Outdoor Swimming Pools

If you want to swim in Spanish, you’re going to need some vocabulary for outdoor swimming pools too.

English	Spanish
sunblock	el bloqueador
tanning oil	el bronceador
towel	la toalla
sunglasses	las gafas de sol, los lentes de sol
life jacket	el chaleco salvavidas
lifesaver	el guardavidas
swimming bag	la bolsa de nado
lockers	los armarios
shower	la ducha, la regadera
goggles	los lentes de nado
floaters	los flotadores
inflatable raft	la balsa inflable

Swimming in the Ocean: Spanish Vocabulary

Finally, you can also swim in the ocean and other natural bodies of water such as lakes, rivers or even sacred cenotes!

English	Spanish
ocean	el océano
sea	el mar
wetsuit	el traje de neopreno
riptide	las aguas revueltas
high tide	la marea alta
low tide	la marea baja
wave	la ola
beach	la playa
umbrella	la sombrilla
sand	la arena
sand castle	el castillo de arena
rock	la roca
stone	la piedra
cave	la cueva
lake	el lago
river	el río
waterfall	la cascada, la catarata

Other Ocean-Based Activities

Last but not least, here you have some vocabulary that isn’t about exactly swim in Spanish, but about other activities that you can also practice in the ocean.

English	Spanish
to surf	surfear
to kayak	practicar kayak
to snorkel	practicar snorkel
to sail	navegar
to scuba dive	bucear
to fish	pescar
to sunbath	tomar el sol
to run	correr

At this point, I strongly recommend you to read Talk About Your Trip to the Beach, which includes more useful vocabulary about beach-related topics and activities.

Start Using These Essential Swimming Terms in Spanish

There are plenty of swimming terms in Spanish in this post.

Practice them and start introducing them into your conversations about swimming and how to swim in Spanish. That way, the next time you go to a sunny Spanish-speaking beach town, you’ll be ready to actually “swim in Spanish!”

You’re Doing Swimmingly!

Now you know a ton of swimming in Spanish vocabulary. Keep up the good work in Spanish! Take a free class with a friendly, certified, native-speaking teacher at Homeschool Spanish Academy (see also: #1 on this list). With over a decade of experience and more than 20,000 active students, we know how to give each person the Spanish content they need to attain Spanish fluency.

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Luis F. Dominguez

Freelance Writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Luis F. Domínguez is a freelance writer and independent journalist interested in travel, languages, art, books, history, philosophy, politics and sports. He has written for Fodor’s, Yahoo!, Sports Illustrated, Telemundo, and Villa Experience, among other brands of print and digital media in Europe and North America.