EXERCISE VALUE

Question
George

I have always understood that swimming (which I have done regularly for 20 years) is a very good all round form of exercise. But is it possible to make a comparison with other forms of exercise in terms of 'exercise value' per say hour devoted to it? I am aiming to convince some friends that it compares very favourably with say jogging. Thanks for your expertise and time.  

Answer
Rafey-
It's hard to compare swimming with other forms of exercise, other than it does burn a fewer calories per hour than say jogging, but it is easier on the joints than most other forms of exercise since there is no impact on the ground.  Swimming does fall between jogging and cycling for effectiveness of calories burned.  Check out:
http://k2.kirtland.cc.mi.us/~balbachl/calorie.htm
Hope thing helps
George