Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming XI

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Swimming Ability, Perceived Competence and Perceived Risk among Young Adults stallman, r.K. 1,2 , dahl d. 1 , Moran, K. 3 , Kjendlie, P.l. 1,4 1 Norwegian School of Sport Science, 2 Norwegian Life Saving Association, 3 Univ. of Auckland, 4 Vestfold University College Why do swimmers get into trouble? Do they over estimate their ability, underestimate the risk, both? Eighty one (n = 81) university physical education students completed a questionnaire and performed seven practical swimming tests. The questionnaire covered a) perception of ability, b) perception of difficulty in open water and c) perception of risk. Gender differences were tested by the Mann-Whitney U test. The women out performed the men on 4 of 7 practical tests. There were few gender differences in perceived competence. The women were highly confident about floating in open water while the men were certain they could not do the same. The men predicted 100% success on surface diving to the bottom of the pool (4m) while the women were less certain (88%). On 5 scenarios depicting risk, there were no gender differences. Key words: swimming ability, perceived competence, perceived risk IntroductIon This study presents the results of an attempt to compare young adult’s perception of their ability in the water to their real ability. These are the Norwegian findings in a larger international project, Can You Swim? Water Safety experts generally believe that water safety education must include knowledge, attitude, judgment and skill. One of the most important elements of knowledge is to know your own limits. The ’deadly duo’ of over estimating ones ability and under estimating the risk (in any given specific situation) can have fatal consequences. McCool et al. (2009) examined exactly this in New Zealand; to what degree do beach goers perceive risk? New Zealand is well known for it’s aquatic recreational opportunities and it is normally considered a sign of an active healthy life style that young people participate as much as they do. In New Zealand swimming is the activity most often engaged in prior to a drowning episode (2005). In Norway, a considerable majority of drownings are related to small boat use and alcohol is often involved (Norwegian Peoples Aid, 2007). It has been speculated however, that increasing the swimming competency of any society may in fact increase exposure to risk (Baker et al, 1992). It is thus doubly important in any water safety – drowning prevention effort, to insist that the teaching of swimming include more than only skills. Risk assessment needs to be a routine affair for persons frequently engaging in aquatic recreation. This cannot be a general kind of orientation but must address real local conditions. It is also well known that in other daily pursuits, men frequently are greater risk takers than women. An excellent example of this is the dramatic over representation of men among traffic injuries and among those penalized for reckless driving and driving while intoxicated (Trygg Trafikk, 2008). Studies in New Zealand have identified men as greater risk takers in aquatic activity than women (McCool et al, 2008, 2009, Moran, 2008). There appears to be little available information on the relationship between real aquatic competency and perceived competency. The goals of this study were to a) assess the swimming ability of university students, b) to assess perceptions of swimming ability and risk, and c) to compare real and perceived competency. Method Eighty one (n = 81) university physical education students participated in the study. The subjects were first year students and all testing was chaPter6.medicineandwatersafety conducted in the first days of the school year, before they were exposed to swimming instruction. They first answered a questionnaire which required less than 30 min. The questionnaire (20 questions) covered a) perception of swimming ability (can you swim > 50, 100, 200, 300m?, etc), b) perception of whether or not the same skills could be accomplished in open water, and c) perception of risk in five specific scenarios. The practical tests consisted of seven skills considered essential (Table 1). Table 2 lists the questions used to elicit perceived competence as well as the perception of difficulty on the same skills in open water. Table 1 Practical Tests and Criteria for Success Test Criteria Distance swim (25m pool) >2, >4, >8, >12, >16, lengths, non-stop Floating in deep water cannot float, 2, >4, >8, >12, >16 lengths 3. How do you feel about doing this in open water? very difficult, difficult, easy, very easy 4. Can you stay afloat in deep water without support? No!
BiomechanicsandmedicineinswimmingXi Table 4 Results of practical tests by gender Practical Test Score Male Female Total p Distance swim Float Swim on back Dive into deep Under water Surface dive Rescue tow 378 n % n % n % 10m 7 15.2 6 18.2 13 16.5 0.48 >15m 8 17.4 6 18.2 14 17.7 >20m 7 15.2 7 21.2 14 17.7 25m 24 52.2 14 42.4 38 48.1 Poor 2 4.3 1 2.9 3 3.7 0.001 Satisfactory 31 66.0 10 9.4 41 50.6 Good 13 27.7 18 52.9 31 38.3 Excellent 1 2.1 5 14.7 6 7.4 Did not finish 1 2.1 1 2.9 2 2.5 0.0001 Poor 6 12.8 0 0.0 6 7.4 Satisfactory 27 57.4 10 29.4 37 45.7 Good 11 23.4 11 32.4 22 27.2 Excellent 2 4.3 12 35.3 14 17.3 Regarding perceived competence, both the men (87.2%) and the women (76.5%) rated themselves as average to good swimmers. Although the difference was not significant, the practical tests (item 2, can swim >400m) showed that the women (100%) were, in fact, slightly better than the men (97.9%). On the next 14 questions, only two showed a significant gender difference. The women were highly confident about floating in deep water (83.7%) while the men (only 6.3%) were convinced that they could not do this. This was in accordance with reality as 91.5% of the men failed to float at all, while only 73.5% of the women failed. The second question showing gender difference was regarding surface diving to the bottom of the pool. One hundred percent (100%) of the men predicted they would do this while 88.2% of the women predicted success. The practical test did not confirm the prediction. Among the men, 95.7% managed the surface dive but 97.1% of the women managed it. Although the difference appears to be small, it was never the less, statistically significant. The perceived risk of drowning as indicated by ranking risk from 1-4 on five water related scenarios, showed no differences between the men and the women. In general, only one of the five scenarios elicited reports of high perceived risk. dIscussIon That the women would so clearly out perform the men was not expected. Of educational significance is the fact that despite significant gender differences on real competence, both the men and the women performed relatively poorly on a) floating in deep water, b) swimming on the back and c) both surface diving and swimming under water and d) the rescue tow. All of these skills have a real survival value and need to be addressed. Regarding floating, Stallman (1999) showed that with a full inspiration, all women (100%) and >90% of all men, have the capacity to float. Those who failed to live up to their anatomical capacity, clearly lacked only confidence. When discussing confidence skills, it has often been stated that there are no objective measures of confidence in the water. When an individual has the proven (measured) anatomical capacity to float and fails to do so, there can be no better ’objective’ test of confidence. Among these subjects (men and women), a full 84% failed to float in deep water. A total of 42%, nearly half of the subjects, swam poorly on the back in spite of ranking themselves as average to good swimmers. Over half of the total surface dived with only satisfactory or poor form and one third (34.2%) could not swim > 15m under water. This should be a cause for alarm when dealing with university students who have been through compulsory swimming instruction in primary school. In much of the world, swimming instruction can be held outdoors for only a small part of the year. Even where this would be practical, outdoor pools are often used. The consequences of this are that an increasing number of people have learned to swim in a pool. In some parts of the world, swimming in open water is simply too dangerous because of the threat of predators and/or microbes. However it is well known that drowning occurs primarily in open water. Those who do not survive an aquatic episode have usually failed to make the transition from the learning atmosphere to the recreational or working atmosphere. Seven of the questions about perceived ability were followed by the question, ’How do you feel about doing this?’ or ’how do you feel about doing this in open water?’ Using only one of the open water questions as an example; 43.2% of the total rated themselves as good to excellent swimmers and 65% said they were able to swim > 400m. However, 64.2% answered that they could do the same in open water as in the pool only with difficulty or with great difficulty. The subjects in this study had previously demonstrated that they could swim, in a physical entrance test which all applicants to the school must perform. This would suggest that they are above average compared to their age mates. This can only mean that the general public would have performed more poorly. conclusIons The women performed significantly better than the men on 4 (5) of seven skills but both performed poorly on several critical skills. This is of concern. Also, it would appear that on two of the seven skills the subjects were not able to accurately predict their level of competence. Contrary to expectations, there were no gender differences in perception of risk. Lastly, while 43% (men and women) reported that they were good to very good swimmers, they performed only from mediocre to poor on 5 of seven tests. And while performing at only a moderate to poor level, they reported high risk on only one of the five risk scenarios. It would appear that they were reasonably good at predicting their competence on specific skills but were unable to assess their general level of competence or to relate it to their level of performance on specific skills. Their perception of what is a good swimmer was skewed. reFerences Baker, S.P., O’Neil B., Ginsburg M.J. & Li, G. (1992). The injury fact book. N.Y. Oxford University Press. Brenner, R.A., Moran K., Stallman R.K., Gilchrist J. & McVan J.T. (2005). Swimming ability, water safety education and drowning prevention. In: Bierens J. (ed). Handbook of drowning. Heidelberg: Springer, 112-116 McCool, J.P., Ameratunga S., Moran K. & Robinsen E. (2009). Taking a risk perception approach to beach swimming safety. Int J Beh Med, 16(4), 360-366 McCool, J.P., Moran K., Ameratunga S. & Robinsen E. (2008). New Zealand beach goers’ swimming behaviors, swimming abilities and perception of drowning risk. Int J of Aquatic Research and Educ, 2(1), 7-15 Moran, K. (2008). Will they sink or swim? New Zealand youth water safety knowledge and skills. Int J of Aquatic Research and Educ. 2(2), 114-127
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Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimmi
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average VO2 measured during resting
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Figure 2. Repeatability of the LTin
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• Without restriction; • Blinde
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