April is Autism awareness month and according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of every 68 children born and over 3.5 million Americans are affected by some form of the disorder.
Studies have found that, believe or not, swimming can help autistic children with their speech, social skills and self-esteem.
One woman has developed a program that teaches children with autism and other special needs how to swim.
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Arguably Britain’s most successful open water swimmer, Adam Walker has overcome some of the toughest swimming challenges known to man.
https://youtu.be/aw3_S4yFWS4
Great Britain’s swimming team for the 2016 Olympics was announced on Thursday (21st April), with head coach Bill Furniss saying a revamped qualification process will help his swimmers achieve success at Rio 2016.
Swimming classes help middle class children boost their maths grades, a study by UCL has revealed.
Children who take part in organised sports and physical activitieswere one and a half times more likely to reach higher than expected grades in their maths test at the end primary school at age 11, it found.
Researchers claimed that the sense of achievement children experience while engaging in activities like swimming and dancing motivates them to do well in their academic studies as well.
The study, which was carried out by NatCen Social Research, Newcastle University and ASK Research, analysed information on more than 6,400 English children born in 2000-01.
The study’s lead investigator, Dr Emily Tanner, of NatCen, explained the link between engaging in sports and other extra-curricular activities and increasing grades in maths. She said: “The chance of experiencing success in sports raises pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. Activities like after school clubs can help a child value school in a new way and establish stronger relationships with staff.”
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Read Swimming World
https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/cesar-cielo-misses-home-olympics-bruno-fratus-italo-duarte-claim-50-free-spots/
https://youtu.be/KapfGhgfA0E
Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias won the 2016 Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability on Monday (18 April) during a glittering ceremony in Berlin, Germany. Allianz, a world-wide partner of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), was an official partner of the 2016 Laureus World Sports Awards.
Dias won seven gold medals and a silver during the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain. Those achievements added to the 10 Paralympic gold medals he has collected, making him one of Brazil’s big hopes for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in September.
It is the third Laureus Award for Dias, which is also a record, as he won in 2009 and 2013.
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Creating a unique and fun introduction to launch newcomers to swimming, USA Swimming has developed SwimJitsu – a new grow-the-sport program that combines swimming, inflatable obstacles and cannonballs.
SwimJitsu is an in-water obstacle course that includes a series of entry-level swimming skills stages and 10 entertaining tasks. Participants become “swimjas†(a combination of swimming and ninja) by using traits such as wisdom, speed and agility.
