Can you swim? Teaching teachers of swimming and water safety
- Authors: McElroy, G. Keith , Blitvich, Jennifer , Petrass, Lauren
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Proceedings of the XIIth International Symposium for Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming p. 553-558
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Can you swim? An exploration of measuring real and perceived water competency
- Authors: Moran, Kevin , Stallman, Robert , Kjendlie, PerLudvik , Dahl, Dagmar , Blitvich, Jennifer , Petrass, Lauren , McElroy, G. Keith , Goya, Toshiaki , Teramoto, Keisuke , Matsui, Atsunori , Shimongata, Shuji
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education Vol. 6, no. 2 (2012), p. 122-135
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- Description: Little is known about the relationship between real and perceived water competence among youth in the context of drowning prevention or of their perceptions of their risk of drowning. This study reports the findings of an international project entitled Can You Swim? Collegiate physical education students (n = 373) were assessed in a two-part study using an initial questionnaire survey to provide self-estimates of water competency and risk perception, followed by six practical tests in the water. Correlation coefficients between perceived and real swimming (rs = 0.369) and floating (rs = 0.583) skills were significant but only moderate in strength. No significant gender differences in real or perceived water competency were found. Significantly more males than females estimated lower risk of drowning associated with a series of aquatic scenarios (p = 0.016). The implications of these findings on drowning prevention and the need for further investigation are discussed. © 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.
- Description: 2003010691
Can you swim? Self-report and actual swimming competence among young adults in Ballarat, Australia
- Authors: Petrass, Lauren , Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Harvey, Jack , Moran, Kevin
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education Vol. 6, no. 2 (2012), p. 136-148
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- Description: This paper reports the Australian findings in an international study comparing self-reported and actual swimming and aquatic skills of young adults. Physical Education and Sports Sciences students (n = 263) completed the "Can You Swim?" self-report survey and practical skills assessment, unaware that the practical tests replicated survey items. Relationships for comparisons between practical tests and their matched survey item were weak, indicating participants had inaccurate perceptions of their own swimming skills. Typically, they underestimated their competence in terms of distance and fundamental aquatic skills. Understanding of what constitutes different levels of swimming ability was poor; for example, most participants identified as average or good to excellent swimmers, but more than half of self-identified average swimmers and 20% of good to excellent swimmers estimated they could complete < 100 m of continuous swimming. The implications of study findings for drowning prevention and the need for further research are discussed. © 2012 Human Kinetics, Inc.
- Description: 2003010667
Swim instructor beliefs about toddler and preschool swimming and water safety education
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , Moran, Kevin , Petrass, Lauren , McElroy, G. Keith , Stanley, Teresa
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education Vol. 6, no. 2 (2012), p. 110-121
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- Description: To study the teacher component of the parent-teacher-learner triad in preschool aquatics and explore compatibility of instructor messages with current drowning prevention beliefs, 133 preschool aquatics instructors were surveyed. Instructors with basic swim teacher accreditation and those with a preschool/infant instructor extension ("Extension") were compared. More Extension instructors selected "safety" as an important outcome (
- Description: 2003010690
Home Swimming Pool Design to Improve Diving Safety
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Blanksby, Brian
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Aquatic Research & Education Vol. 3, no. 3 (08 2009), p. 302-314
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- Description: This study sought to establish home swimming pool design guidelines to minimize risk of diving injury. Using a qualitative design, interviews with representatives of home pool companies were analyzed and common themes were determined. Pool company display centers and advertising materials were also examined. The typical in-ground fiberglass home pool was described by manufacturers as 8 m in length, with a constant gradient of 0.9 m to 1.8-2.0 m deep. Comparisons between this profile and the underwater pathways of young adults in previous studies by the authors showed that if the dives had been performed in this typical pool, impact would have occurred for some dives. Safety features such as depth markings and signage were absent from all pools. We concluded that recreational swimmers with limited diving skills are at risk of diving injury in the typical home swimming pool. Recommendations are provided of strategies that can be implemented by home pool owners to improve pool safety. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR
- Description: C1
Waterslide exit velocities, user behaviours and injury prevention
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International journal of injury control and safety promotion Vol. 14, no. 1 (2007), p. 54-56
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- Description: 2003005672
Force-time characteristics of the butterfly turns by age-group swimmers
- Authors: Ling, Ben , Blanksby, Brian , Elliott, Bruce , McElroy, G. Keith
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Human Movement Studies Vol. 47, no. 5 (2004), p. 429-451
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Turning time can account for more than 20% of a swimming race and better turns can improve performance significantly. Two underwater video cameras and a force platform were used to analyse the turning techniques of 16 female and 12 male, age-group, butterfly swimmers of similar swimming experience. Subjects were of mean age 13.3±1.6 years; height, 166.4±11.2cm and mass, 55.1±11.5kg. Two x 50m maximal effort butterfly swims were completed from a push-start on a 3 minute departure interval in a 25m pool. The criterion measure was the time elapsed between passing the 5m mark on the approach and departure from the wall, named the 5m Round Trip Time (RTT). A one-way ANOVA revealed no gender differences. The 5m RTT correlated significantly (p<0.01) with 50m time, height, mass, armspan, peak horizontal force, impulse, velocity-in, wall exit velocity, leg resumption speed and arm resumption distance. The 5m RTT was predicted by the equation : 12.228 - 0.024 height + 2.128 pivot time - 0.422 arm resumption distance - 1.275 arm resumption speed, when velocity-in and 50m time were removed as predictor variables.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001201
Long term retention of safe diving skills
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Blanksby, Brian , Parker, H. E.
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 6, no. 3 (2003), p. 348-354
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- Description: This short report describes a 20-month follow-up of safe diving skills, extending the 8-month retention period previously published in this journal. Thirty-four recreational swimmers with poor diving skills were evaluated before and immediately after a diving skills intervention program. Twenty-two returned for the eight-month follow-up evaluation and 16 returned 20 months post. As with the earlier study, Treadwater, Deck, Block and Running dives were video-recorded, and maximum depth, distance, velocity, entry angle and flight distance were compared. Underwater hand and arm positions were examined. Pre-intervention, a breaststroke arm action before maximum depth occurred in 18% of all dives and 38% of Treadwater dives. This was eliminated post-intervention, improving head protection. The Treadwater dive elicited the greatest mean maximum depth, and ANOVA showed depth for this entry decreased (improved) following intervention and remained shallower at the eight-month and 20-month post follow-ups. The Block dive also became shallower following intervention while the Deck dive remained unchanged. As seven 10-minute skills sessions resulted in shallower dives with safer hand and arm positions, and these skills were retained over a 600 day non-practice period, it is reliable to consider that the inclusion of safe diving skills in learn-to-swim programs can provide a diving spinal cord injury prevention strategy.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000626
Retention of safe diving skills
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Blanksby, Brian , Parker, H. E.
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport Vol. 6, no. 2 (2003), p. 155-165
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- Description: This study investigated diving skill maintenance over an eight-month retention period following an intervention program. Thirty-four recreational swimmers with poor diving skills were measured before and immediately after a diving skills intervention program. Twenty-two returned for follow-up evaluation. Treadwater, Deck and Block dives were video-recorded, and maximum depth, distance, velocity, entry angle and flight distance were compared. Underwater hand and arm positions were examined. Pre-intervention, a breaststroke arm action before maximum depth occurred in 18% of all dives and 38% of Treadwater dives. This was eliminated post-intervention, improving head protection. The Treadwater dive elicited the greatest mean maximum depth, and ANOVA showed depth for this entry decreased (improved) following intervention and remained shallower at follow-up. Deck and Block dives also became shallower following intervention. As seven 10-minute skills sessions resulted in shallower dives with safer hand and arm positions, including safe diving skills in learn-to-swim programs can provide a diving spinal cord injury prevention strategy.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000629
Water safety & diving safety : Preventing injury through safer diving
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Blanksby, Brian
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 2003 Water Safety Conference, Sydney : 22nd September, 2003 p. 97-102
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- Description: E1
- Description: 2003000631
Waterslide exit velocities, user behaviours & injury prevention
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 2003 Water Safety Conference, Sydney : 22nd September, 2003 p. 122-124
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- Description: E1
- Description: 2003000632
Teaching safer diving – Innovative teaching through application of research
- Authors: Blitvich, Jennifer , McElroy, G. Keith , Blanksby, Brian
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at AUSTSWIM National Conference Canberra, Canberra : p. 1-9
- Full Text: false
- Description: E1