Body in Motion Report
SWIMMING

Swimming 800m +
PART A:
Question 1:
Swimming can be an effective form of an aerobic activity, which is important for physical fitness and weight control. Aerobic training is exercise that requires the heart and lungs to work harder to meet the increased demand of the body's oxygen needs. Swimming can also provide a good workout for all of your muscles due to the use of stroking movements to force your body through the water. Swimming improves the health related components; cardiorespiratory endurance, as well as the skill related component; reaction time.
Swimming is an effective conditioning activity that is low impact, but uses both the upper and lower body, giving a total body workout. Your heart, lungs and blood circulatory system known collectively as your cardiorespiratory system work together effectively to enhance the consistency of a swimming performance. By completing an 800m swimming race it is important to have a well- trained cardio respiratory system as it ensures the delivery of adequate quantities of blood (high cardiac output), a functional ventilation system (respiratory system) and a good transport system (circulatory system) to ensure efficient and speedy delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the cells. The 800m + swim requires that you maintain movement over a period of time. To maintain this movement, your lungs must take in oxygen, which is then transported by the blood system to your working tissues so that it can be used to provide fuel to your working muscles. It is the coordinated efforts of your heart, lungs and circulatory system that keep your muscles contracting.
Reaction time is the time taken to respond to a stimulus. There is an interval of time between application of a stimulus and the body’s detection of a response. Reaction time is essential for a swimming race as the stimulus is the sound of the starting beep or gun and the swimmer reacts as soon as they possibly can by diving into the water and starting the race. When you're a swimmer, hundredths of second can make the difference in a race
Question 2:
Fitness assessments are useful for individuals, coaches and fitness professionals. Areas of fitness that need particular attention can be identified and improvements in fitness can be easily seen through the use of pre testing and post testing. This is normally performed prior to beginning a training program either during or at the conclusion of a program to assess progress. Fitness testing is a way of gaining information about the health related and skill related components of an athlete’s fitness. There are certain fitness tests to measure your current fitness level of cardiovascular endurance and your reaction time.

The Williams Swimming Beep Test is a variation on the running beep test. This swimming beep type test was created by Graham Williams, an English ironman swim coach. The purpose is to test the aerobic fitness of swimmers. The test is based on a 1500m swim. The 1500 is broken down into 15x100, each 100 is then broken down into 8 x 12.5m swims. The speed level changes each 100m. The first 3 x100m has been set at a very slow rate, to be used as a warm up and getting used to the test. The time between beeps reduces as you go along. The final 100m is (level 15) is at close to world record pace. This repetitive training is beneficial because swimming workouts that last over two minutes improve your next performance and your cardiovascular endurance levels.

Reaction time can be improved with practice and concentration. The average reaction time in human beings is 170 milliseconds. Determining your reaction time can be achieved by hearing and vision tests, repeating these tests impact on improvement. By measuring reaction time, a swimmer can identify areas of improvement for training. As swimmers progress in the sport, technical training to focus on correct body position on the blocks, superior turn technique and overall stroke technique