Motor skill development for children between the ages of 6 to 8 as a result of finishing an initiation level swimming course

Abstract Introduction: Swimming, as an activity, covers many of the basic humanistic needs by creating a state of wellbeing as well as help form a holistic person by developing their motor skills, cognition and affection through the stresses of training for competition or just by practicing for recreational purposes. Various scientific studies show the importance of the motor skill component when selecting those fit for competitive swimming. Additionally, there are other studies that demonstrate that swimming can have an anthropometric effect over the body. The purpose of our study was to test if an initiation level swimming course would produce a development of basic motor skills in children between the ages of 6 to 8. Methodology and Participants: for this study we recruited 10 participants out of which 5 were girls and the remaining 5 were boys. Their age (7,1±0,73) is between 6 and 8 where two of the children are 6 years of age, five are 7 years of age and the last three are 8 years of age. In order to conduct the study, we employed a set of tests that rely on 7 events extracted from the stock of EUROFIT tests. Results: the final results show that the participants have improved their performances with strong statistical significance. Conclusions: Undergoing an initiation level swimming course results in a noticeable development of motor skills as well as from the homogeneity of the group, which is considerably improved at final testing.