What is the best swimming stroke to master for beginners in water safety tests?

Abstract

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 programme 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.