SWIMMING has topped the Australian Sport’s Commission’s latest national AusPlay data to be the number one participation sport in the country. Nearly six million Australians participate in swimming – be it learn to swim, recreational lap swimming, squad training, ocean swimming or competition.

Athletics (including running and jogging) takes top spot among Australians 15+ with 3.48 million participants, followed by swimming with 3.23 million participants and cycling with 2.56 million participants. These top three are consistent across gender, age, location and those who speak a language other than English at home (LOTE).

Swimming Swimming is Australia’s most popular sport, with a HUGE 3.1 million people regularly involved in it. Regardless of age, it seems that Australians just love their swimming, which isn’t surprising given how hot it is in Australia for most of the year, and how amazing most of our beaches are.

For the first time, AusPlay has revealed Australia’s top 20 sports and physical activities along with detailed ‘State of the Play’ reports on each. Recreational activities like walking, fitness/gym, swimming, running and cycling top the list, with football at number six the most popular organised sport for Australian participants.