According to new research from Australia, kids who learn how to swim earlier in life can reach milestones faster than kids who learn at a later stage.

The research included a sample of over 7,000 kids aged 5 and below. And interesting enough, early swimmers have better skills compared to their counterparts. In fact, in pre-school, kids who knew how to swim had better visual-motor skills and even better cognitive skills as they get older.

“There’s a strong synergy between language and action with swimming that’s essential for many cognitive and motor skills,” the study’s author Robyn Jorgensen explained. “Kids learn at an early age to hear language and make connections with their bodies.”

“Many of these skills are those that help young children into the transition into formal learning contexts such as pre-school or school,” she also added.