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Abstract
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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. |