School-based swimming lessons enhance specific skills and motor coordination in children: the comparison between two interventions

A Randomized Trial of a Swimming-Based Alternative Treatment for Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Swimming lessons’ importance has increased worldwide regarding children’s recreational activities [ 35 , 36 ]. Additionally, swimming allows for the promotion of age-appropriate motor and physical experiences contributing to the children’s development [ 37 ]. Furthermore, the physical and physiological effects of swimming may also contribute to developing motor performance skills [ 38 ] and efficient movement patterns, leading to overall motor advancement.…”

The Impact of Swimming on Fundamental Movement Skill Development in Children (3–11 Years): A Systematic Literature Review

“…Of the final 10 studies, only 2 originated in the UK [ 7 , 10 ]. The remaining eight originated from various countries, including Portugal [ 8 , 9 , 48 ], Serbia [ 6 , 45 ], Romania [ 47 ], Poland [ 46 ], and Turkey [ 5 ]. All studies reported gender and age as required by the inclusion/exclusion criteria; participants of the studies were predominantly male: out of a combined total of 611 participants from all studies, 429 (70.2%) were male, and only 182 (29.8%) were female.…”

“…Pratt et al [ 10 ] identified a significant ( p < 0.05) gender difference in that females had a higher AMP score (27.97 ± 27.90) compared to males (21.10 ± 22.70), which highlighted the potential need for a standardised assessment battery for swimming to further explore these effects. In addition, several papers did not use control groups (CG) [ 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 47 ], whereas studies that did include a CG [ 7 , 45 , 46 , 48 ] found significant results between them, further supporting the need for a robust swimming intervention within the curriculum, for FMS development alongside social, PA, and health benefits. There was no study included in this cohort that identified that swimming did not improve FMS development.…”

“…Eider [ 46 ] found that balance ( p = 0.0004) and static ( p = 0.01) and functional strength ( p = 0.0009) all improved significantly from pre- to post-testing, again highlighting motor skill development as a result of a swimming intervention, further supported by Rocha et al [ 48 ] who found significant increases in motor proficiency skills such as running ( p = 0.014) and hopping ( p = 0.009) as well as in TGMD-2 scores overall ( p = 0.015) as a result of a 30-month intervention. Additionally, Pîrjol et al [ 47 ] found significant improvements in some scores of motor skill development (EUROFIT tests 2 ( p = 0.002) and 4 ( p = 0.001)) and Moura et al [ 8 ] found significant improvements in both basic and formal swimming skill interventions pre–post testing; the KTK test highlighted significant improvements in motor coordination (basic and formal p < 0.01). Moura et al’s [ 9 ] second study also found significant results of improved motor coordination ( p < 0.01) and improved aquatic skills ( p < 0.01), as a result of the swimming intervention.…”

“…Although limited, research supports the positive impact of swimming intervention on FMS development [ 8 , 9 ] and highlights a need for a more modern and universal swimming assessment tool [ 10 ]. This is particularly true for UK research, representative of the population, in addressing the importance of swimming within the UK curriculum and Swim England (SE; [ 11 , 12 , 13 ]).…”