Kinesiology, Vol. 36 No. 2., 2004.
Original scientific paper
Selecting Children for Swimming School - the Case of Croatia
Goran Leko
Nada Grčić-Zubčević
Abstract
The main goal of this study was to determine which anthropometric characteristics and which motor abilities were the best predictors for performance in 50 m front crawl swimming in pre-adolescent boys. For this purpose 37 male swimmers, aged 9–10 years, were tested. The swimmers have participated in the training process for 2–4 years. The second objective was to utilize the obtained findings in the construction of swimming tests that would be used for testing the primary-school children to be initially selected for swimming-school participation. Therefore, the study was aimed at identifying those anthropometric and motor tests that would help select potential future swimmers regardless of whether they were able or not to swim over a 25 m distance prior to the testing procedure. From the whole set of anthropometric characteristics and motor abilities predictors, only five characteristics and abilities can be singled out as significant for predicting success in the 50 m front crawl event. Among the tests that had been singled out as predictive
-sitting height, upper arm circumference, upper arm skinfold, hand diameter and vertical jump, the two: sitting height and upper arm skinfold were negatively correlated with the 50 m crawl performance.
Keywords
swimming; selection; anthropometric characteristics; motor abilities; children
Hrčak ID:
4198
URI
Publication date:
23.12.2004.
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