Integrative Swimming Instruction: Swimming through Understanding

Background: In the past three decades we are witnessing a linear decline in children`s motor skills, coordination and aquatic adaptation. Literature suggests that this is due to insufficient exposure to movement experience in the early developmental stages of life and insufficient exposure to aquatic environments. A brief literature review shows a growing use of integrative approaches in motor skills learning and in school teaching. Thus, it is hypothesized that similar approach (i.e. Integrative) in swimming instruction (ISI) should be more affective than traditional swimming instruction (TSI) approaches that no longer relate to students` emerging needs.

Aims: To examine whether implementing an integrative approach to swimming instruction improves students` swimming level at the end of the learning period and affect their persistence in swimming classes after that period. The ISI approach is constructed as an evolving spiral process with inconspicuous transition between the cycles separated by goals and teaching methods.

Method: 148 swimming students in the age range of 4-8 participated in ISI classes over a period of two years. The control group included 164 same aged swimming students who participated in TSI two years earlier. All students were classified in the beginning and each month thereafter until the end of the learning period.

Results: It was found that 90% of kindergarten ISI students (age 4-6) managed to swim 50 meters (25 freestyle and 25 backstroke) in deep waters compared to only 10% of the control group. Ninety percent of the control group swam 12½ meters freestyle and 12½ backstroke in shallow water. Further findings showed that elementary school ISI students (age 6-8) managed to swim 50 meters (25 freestyle and 25 backstroke) in deep waters compared to 60% of the control group. Forty percent of the control group swam 12½ meters freestyle and 12½ backstroke in shallow water. Finally, it was found that 90% of kindergarten ISI students and 60% of elementary school ISI students stayed for at least 1 year in advanced swimming classes compared to 40% of kindergarten TSI students and 30% of elementary school TSI students.

Discussion and Conclusions: In a changing world we need to seek out new and innovative ways to teach our children. We showed that new swimming instruction approaches can be beneficial in the short and long term. However, further investigation is needed to see ISI`s contribution to swimmers` durability in swimming classes over longer periods of time and in their ability to excel compared to TSI swimmers.