Cycling ranked as the UK's second most-searched adventure sport over the past year, behind swimming, according to research by sports travel insurance provider SportsCover Direct. The two activities generated nearly 85 million Google searches combined, more than the other eight sports in the top 10 combined.

SportsCover Direct analysed more than 8,000 adventure sports-related keywords across UK cities. Swimming ranked first with 69,015,270 searches, followed by cycling with 15,866,140. The remaining sports in the top 10 were ice skating, kayaking, trekking, skydiving, ice hockey, bouldering, rock climbing and surfing.

Norwich topped the city rankings, recording 4,388 adventure sports-related searches per capita annually. Bristol ranked second with 4,099, followed by Manchester with 3,730. Worcester and Plymouth placed fourth and fifth, with 3,547 and 3,428 searches per capita, respectively.

Local search preferences varied. Norwich and Bristol shared the same top five activities as the national ranking, while rock climbing ranked third in Manchester, behind swimming and cycling. Manchester also recorded above-average search volumes for ice skating, ice hockey and snowboarding.

Sport England's latest Active Lives Survey reported that around 6.1 million UK adults cycle for leisure, while approximately 4.4 million participate in swimming. Separately, the number of people regularly swimming in lakes, rivers and the sea increased from 266,000 in 2017 to 543,000.

The findings measure online search interest rather than actual participation or market size. Google search volumes and participation figures therefore represent different measures of interest in and engagement with these activities.

Photo: SportsCover Direct