What is the best swim stroke to master for beginners in water safety test?

• Published in: European physical education review 2017-06, Vol.25 (1), p.174-186
• Main Authors: Potdevin, Francois, Jomin Moronval, Sophie, Pelayo, Patrick, Dekerle, Jeanne
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Life Sciences
• ISSN: 1356-336X
• DOI: 10.1177/1356336X17713665

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether performance in a series of water safety tests, in clothed and swimsuit conditions, were dependent on the swim stroke that beginners selected for traversing maximal distance. A total of 45 children (9.6 + 1.6 years) involved in a learning pro- gramme were asked to complete six tests to: travel their maximal distance in water; hold a vertical position; float on their back for as long as possible; perform a maximal number of rotations from front to back in 10 seconds; complete their deepest immersion dive; and perform a final integrated test composed of the previous tasks that were successfully executed in isolation. Pupils were divided into three groups according to the swim stroke they had selected for the first test. The results revealed that the breaststroke group was less affected by wearing clothes in performance on the maximal distance and the final integration test, and was able to tread water for a longer period of time. The backstroke group maintained a horizontal position on their backs for a longer period of time, and was able to rotate position more frequently from front to back. No effect of preferred swim stroke was noted in the maximal immersion dive test. Overall, the front crawl group was most affected by wearing clothes when traversing a maximal distance, floating on their back and performing the final integrated test. Findings suggested that breaststroke and backstroke may be more important to teach beginners for performance in water safety tests. L'objectif de cette étude était de vérifier si les performances dans une série de tests de sécurité aquatique, dans des conditions de vêtements et de maillots de bain, dépendaient de la nage choisie par les débutants pour parcourir la distance maximale. Au total, 45 enfants (9,6 + 1,6 ans) participant à un programme d'apprentissage ont été invités à effectuer six tests : parcourir la distance maximale dans l'eau ; maintenir une position verticale ; flotter sur le dos le plus longtemps possible ; effectuer un nombre maximal de rotations d'avant en arrière en 10 secondes ; effectuer la plongée la plus profonde ; et effectuer un test final intégré composé des tâches précédentes qui ont été exécutées avec succès de manière isolée. Les élèves ont été répartis en trois groupes en fonction de la nage qu'ils avaient choisie pour le premier test. Les résultats ont révélé que le groupe de brasse était moins affecté par le port de vêtements dans la performance