Swimming skills acquisition among aquatically inexperienced college students: deep vs shallow swimming pool
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v81.118049Keywords:
Arm stroke, buoyancy, deep water, gliding, leg kick, shallow pool depthAbstract
Introduction: Lack of swimming skills is common in developing countries and learning to swim rarely starts at an early age. Many factors affect swimming skills acquisition; swimming pool depth has been addressed as one of the main factors.
Objective: To compare swimming skills acquisition between deep-water swimming pool (DSP) and shallow-water swimming pool (SSP) among students with no previous experience in swimming.
Methodology: 288 physical education college students were the sample of the study. The deep swimming pool group consisted of 186 students, whereas the shallow swimming pool group consisted of 102 students. Learning process lasted 12 weeks. The evaluation criteria consisted of the following 6 parameters of the front crawl stroke: the parameters were body position, head position, breathing, leg kicks, arm stroke & recovery, and general fluency & synchronization. Three swimming professionals participated in the evaluation process.
Results: The shallow swimming pool group showed a significant improvement in arm stroke & recovery, general fluency and synchronization. However, there were no significant differences between the two groups in body position, head position, breathing, and leg kicks.
Conclusion: Training in a shallow swimming pool seems to facilitate swimming skills acquisition compared to deep swimming pools in adults with no previous experience in swimming. Furthermore, shallow swimming pools has fewer financial demands, especially in developing countries, where swimming illiteracy is prevalent.
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