Learn-to-swim program in a school context for a twelve-week period enhance aquatic skills and motor coordination in Brazilian children

This study aimed to verify the effects of 12 Weeks of swimming lessons implemented in age school Brazilian children's aquatic skills and motor coordination. Fifty children aged 6 to 10 years old (mean +/- SD: 8.34 +/- 1.10 years), participated in one swimming lesson per week provided by the school curriculum. Each child was evaluated for their aquatic skills (17 skills checklist) and motor coordination (Korperkoordinationstest Fur Kinder test-KTK) before and after the swimming program. This study showed significant improvements in the sum of scores obtained in swimming skills evaluation (31.40 +/- 12.89 VS. 46.90 +/- 10.73 points, p < .01, d= 3.38). Large effects were found in water orientation and adjustment at the vertical position, breath control, horizontal buoyancy, body position at ventral, dorsal gliding and at longitudinal rotation, front and bade somersaults, leg kicking with breath control, feet-first/head-first entries, autonomy in a deep pool and vertical buoyancy and immersion at deep water. The sum of scores in motor coordination assessment increased flow 140.64 +/- 41.94 to 175.20 +/- 41.39 points (p < .01, d = 1.56). These results showed that 12 weeks of swimming practices, even conditioned by state school context (i.e., once a week), allowed Brazilian children aged 6-10 years old to increase aquatic skills and motor coordination.