INFANTS PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE

TO FOUR MONTHS OF A SWIMMING PROGRAM

Alberto RAMOS 1, Daniel MARINHO 1, Tiago BARBOSA

Mrio COSTA 3

&

Universidade da Beira Interior

Nanyang Technological University
3
Instituto Politcnico da Guarda
1

Introduction

Infants participation in
aquatic activities
increased remarkably in
the last few years
-Decreases in
drowning chances
-Improved motor skills
-Social development

Introduction

Studies on the acute

physiological responses to
water routines over infancy are
few

Aim

The aim of this study was to

compare the infants
physiological response before
and after a swimming program

Methods

Infants with their

parents
14 infants (26- 44
months)

They were tested before

(M1) and 4 months after
(M2) a swimming
program
Twice a week with a

Methods

The physiological
response
was assessed based
on heart rate
measurements (HR,
bpm)

Methods

Infants were excluded if:

(i) expressing negative reactions like crying
while using the heart rate monitor

(ii) not attend at least to 80% of the

swimming sessions

Methods

(i) individual displacement (ii) accompanied

in prone position (InD)
displacement in prone
position (AcD)

(iii) immersion(im)

(v) sliding from the platform

(iv) jump from the deck (JD)

Results and Discussion

Results and Discussion

HR @ Skill

Relative Changes (%)

FC@InD

-3,907,36

FC@AcD

1,1013,78

FC@Im

-14,1717,76

FC@JD

-10,3612,70

FC@Sli
-3,486,40
Involved some fear in the first
experience

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that infants

experience significant physiological
adaptations while participating on a
swimming program

The HR decrease indicates that less

physical energy is necessary to have

Alberto RAMOS
Daniel MARINHO
Tiago BARBOSA
Mrio COSTA

Thank you for your

attention