How good is swimming for fat loss?

[perfect_dark9]

I swam 15x25m today... I'll try to keep this up for 3times/week. Currently, I'm 5'7", 144 lb., 18% BF.

How many calories does one burn?

[timelinex]

it sounds really good b\c it burns ALOT of calories,but i read alot of research that says that it doesnt get u skinnier. i dont remebmer the exact reasoning why though.

[muscl_savant]

Swimming is good exercise, but it isn't a good fat burner. The guys that swim for training have to swim for hours every day and they do lose fat. But, they do it for about 4 hours or more. Most BBers are all finished with their cardio in 20 to 30 minutes. Stationary bike, climbers, jogging all use the legs, and they hit them harder than swimming. From what I heard, you burn the most fat when you use quads. Most of swimming is with arms--using delts and lats.

Check this site for calories burned according to exercise:

http://www.fitresource.com/Fitness/CalBurn.htm

Remember that heart rate is important, too. The fat burning zone is 220 minus your age times .50 to .65 for best aerobic effect. You can also do HIIT sprints--short fast bursts of biking, etc. and not worry about heart rate.

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EDIT:
Let's clear things. Burning calories is not the same as burning fat. You can wave a chicken over your head and burn calories, but you won't burn fat. To BURN FAT, you pretty much have to use your legs. Swimming does not really use your legs-especially not your quads. Quads are the fat burner muscles. So, not everything is cardio and a good fat burner.

[theGBE]

swimming alot will make you a good swimmer.

If you are just doing cardio for a work out, I honestly think it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you hit your target heart rate and do it for no more than 45 minutes a day/5 days a week. In the end its all the same really

[TennisDude]

You can always incorporate swimming into HIIT, so as a fat burner, it can have just the same effects as running HIIT, since HIIT is about more then just burned calories.