ABSTRACT
To talk of ‘swimming’ in general terms is somewhat misleading. It encompasses a tremendous variety of activities, including synchronised swimming, life-saving, water-polo and diving, in addition to competition on an individual or team basis in events using freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and/or butterfly stroke. In our view this variety signals rich potential for the development of Sport Education. The possibilities in relation to the form that festivals might take, the roles and responsibilities that students may take on, and the diverse skills, knowledge and understanding that they will thereby develop are all immense. A Sport Education swimming season could concentrate upon one of the forms identified above and therefore lead towards, for example, a water-polo tournament. Alternatively it could include a variety of swimming activities within a ‘split season’. Roles and responsibilities might be linked to:
• coaching of particular strokes, of other technical aspects such as turns, starts or specialist movements within water-polo, synchronised swimming, diving or life-saving;
starter, touch judge, finish judge, timekeeper);
• choreography for synchronised swimming; • match analysis in water-polo; • pool safety checks. As in other activity contexts, there is also the scope for publicity officers and equipment monitors.
