The Effect of Using Aquatic Exercises on Learning Swimming Skills and Improving Some Physical Fitness Elements for the Elderly

Abstract

Aquatic exercises are one of the most important forms of exercise in our current era, providing physical fitness, enjoyment, and safety for people of all ages and abilities. This type of exercise involves various forms of harmonized movements of the hands, legs, and torso performed in different positions, which can lead to physical changes and contribute to learning swimming skills among the elderly subjects under study. Through the researcher's long-term work in teaching and training swimming at the Dolphin Babylon Academy for Swimming and Fitness, and by conducting a survey on the parents of participants in the 2025 swimming courses, it was found that a large number of the elderly category do not know how to swim, exceeding 55% of the total parents. In addition to the scarcity of sports programs available within the governorate that cater to this age group and the difficulty they face in engaging in sports activities, which led to a decrease in their fitness level. This prompted the researcher to conduct this study titled: "The Effect of Using Aquatic Exercises on Learning Swimming Skills and Improving Some Physical Fitness Elements for the Elderly" to determine the benefit for the target group in terms of skill acquisition and fitness improvement. The research sample consisted of 25 participants in Course (15) for the 2025 season, which was dedicated to teaching swimming to the elderly. The level of learning in the educational program that included aquatic exercises was significantly better than the traditional program. A noticeable rise in the results of physical fitness tests, which included the endurance test for the legs and the power test for the arms. The necessity of focusing on the older age groups due to their high proportion in society. Introducing aquatic exercises into the programs of various sports disciplines due to their effective role in improving fitness.