1. SWIMMING PROMOTES
SENSORY
INTEGRATION

2. MOTOR PLANNING
• One of the highest, most
complex of all the sensory
integrative functions in a
child
 It lays the groundwork for
a child's sensory/motor
development
• It is a bridge between a
child's sensory/motor
development and the
intellectual aspects of his
brain function

3. SENSORY INTEGRATION
• The brain has to organize
sensory info in order for it to
have meaning
• It "puts it all together".
• Organizes parts into a whole
• It's the TRAFFIC COP - it
directs traffic through the
nervous system so sensory
info can be processed in the
right part of the brain
• Tactile, Vestibular &
Proprioceptive Systems

4. TACTILE SYSTEM
A sensory system
• Swimming is very tactile
• Water has 600-700 times the
resistance of air- encourages
neurological development
• Dr Ruth Rice researched
tactile and vestibular
stimulation on infants,
finding that they accelerated
cognitive & neurological
development.

5. WATER RESISTANCE
• Viscosity of water provides
and excellent source of
resistance that allows for
muscle strengthening &
tone
• Studies 2011 in Melbourne
AU - children who swim
strengthen their muscles more
rapidly
• A swimmer has to apply at
least 12x the force to the
water to move his body.
• A Dynamic Resistant Force
more force, more
resistance

6. BUOYANCY
• Buoyancy is very tactile
• Supports child's weight
• Decreases weight bearing
stress on joints/bones 60-70%
• Working in chest deep water is:
• Easier and less painful
• Child can exercise longer
• Can provide a cardio workout
• Child is less likely to injure
himself

7. WARMTH OF WATER
• Warmth is very tactile
• Vasodilates vessels which
increases blood flow
• More oxygen to the brain
• Lowers blood pressure
• Boosts immune system
• Improves physical
performance 25%
• Improves Mental Alertness
• Improves Endurance
• Improves Energy Levels

8. PROPRIOCEPTION
A Sensory System
• Ability to sense your body in
space and movement of the
body and its parts
• Proprioceptive Dysfunction
• Little motor control
• Difficulty Motor Planning
• Little sense of pressure
• Postural Instability

9. HYDROSTATIC PRESSURE
• Pressure exerted by a
fluid due to gravity
• Produces perpendicular
force to the body
• Improves Proprioception
• Helps a child with
Proprioceptive Dysfunction
To know where his body
is in space and movement
of body and it's parts

10. SPATIAL AWARENESS
• Child's knowledge of
objects in space around him
and his awareness of his
body's position within that
space
• Child must learn concepts
of location, direction and
distance
• More mobility in water can
teach spatial awareness
• Ability to organize objects
in space is connected with
ability to organize abstract
thoughts

11. VESTIBULAR SYSTEM
A SENSORY SYSTEM
• Vestibular system is controlled
by the inner ear and is the
information gathering and
feedback source for movements
• They are the Business Centers
• They sort and order impulses
from many parts of the brain
• Its the unifying system
• It Primes the nervous system to
run efficiently
• All other sensations are
processed in relationship to basic
vestibular information

12. VESTIBULAR MOVEMENT
• Humans enjoy things that
develop the brain
• We seek sensations that
organize our nervous systems
• That's why we like: Rocking
Rolling, Spinning, Swaying,
• Stimulates the Vestibular
System and activates the
cerebellum and frontal lobes
• Organizes Nervous System
• Develops Spatial Awareness
Visual Perception, Language
• Promotes Balance & Stability

13. VESTIBULAR STIMULATION
• 2009 Norwegian U of Science
&Technology found
• Baby swimmers developed
better balance, movement
& grasping skills than
peers
• The difference persisted
until they were 5 years old
• At age five they still out
performed their peers in
balance, movement and
grasping skills.

14. BALANCE & STABILITY
• Gravitational security is so
vital to a child's emotional
health, he has a strong inner
drive to explore & master it
• LEARNING BEGINS WITH
GRAVITY
• Gravity activates infant’s neck
muscles to lift his head and
learn about his environment.
• Gravity stimulates movement
• Movement activates learning

15. MOVEMENT FACILITATES
LEARNING
• 2011 research in Melbourne AU
reported that children who were
taught to swim by 5 years, had
statistically higher IQ's
• When a child moves or interacts
with his world, the impulses
flowing through his neurons
stimulate the nerve fibers to
grow branches and twigs that
reach out to other neurons.
• When movement is repeated
over & over , new neural
pathways are created
• These new nerve pathways set
down intricate neural networks
that direct a child’s higher level
brain development

16. INCREASES MEMORY CAPACITY
• Studies show the amount
of movement a person
engages in affects the
size and memory capacity
of the hippocampus
• Dr Art Kramer’s study at
University of Illinois &
Pittsburgh discovered that
higher fit people have
bigger hippocampi and . .
• More tissue in
hippocampus equates
with a better memory
• Queensland U

17. BILATERAL CROSS
PATTERNING
• Fascinating new research
-Bilateral cross patterning
movements like swimming
develop more nerve fibers in
the corpus callosum (200 mil)
• It facilitates communication,
feedback & modulation from
one hemisphere to the other
• Cross patterning movements
activate both hemispheres &
all 4 lobes of brain
simultaneously, thus heightening
cognition and increasing the ease
of learning

18. NERVE CONDUCTION
• Swimmers have a greater
Cell Density, Connectedness
in the cerebellum
• Swimmers show little decline in
NERVE CONDUCTION
VELOCITY (NCV)
• Speed in which your brain
tells the muscles what to do
• 80 yr old master swimmers
have same NCV as 50 yr old
• Greater elasticity in arteries,
lower heart rates

19. SOCIAL CONFIDENCE
• Liselott Diem’s study reported
that babies who had swim
lessons from age 2m - 4yrs
were better adapted to new
situations, had more
independence & greater self
confidence
• In swim class a child learns to
cooperate in a social structure
• To take turns, share, cooperate
• This sense of belonging builds
self esteem and strengthens
social confidence

20. WE TEACH THE WHOLE CHILD