As a swimming instructor and physical educator of 21 years, I have seen many children come to the pool for their lessons but never enter the water due to their heightened sense of anxiety. They spend most of their precious instructional time sitting at the edge of the pool, on a nearby deck chair, or crying out loudly to be taken home. If you are fortunate enough to have the facilities to teach swimming to youngsters at your school, you may be able to assist them in minimizing or overcoming their anxieties by understanding the origins of anxiety and developing new teaching methods to cope with their situations.

Origins of Anxiety

Anxiety has been defined as a mental uneasiness caused by fear (Webster, 1993). Individuals can experience either state anxiety or trait anxiety in a performance setting. State anxiety is "the condition in which an individual possesses consciously perceived feelings of apprehension or tension at an existing state" (Speilberger, 1983). Hence, when children arrive at the pool for their swimming lessons, the mere sight of a large pool of water may begin to arouse increased levels of anxiety. Conversely, trait anxiety is "an acquired behavioral disposition that predisposes an individual to certain situations to be perceived as threatening causing her/him to respond to these situations with varying levels of state anxiety" (Speilberger, 1983). Children with trait anxiety already possess varying degrees of anxiety before ever reaching the swimming pool area, however, once there, the anxiety levels may rise even more. The degree of anxiety non-swimmers experience will be determined by the amount of threat that is perceived by each individual.

Minimizing Anxiety

Methodology designed to reduce anxiety in non-swimmers can begin with prevention and awareness. Always supervise non-swimmers in, on, or around the water. Secondly, know the actions that suggest individuals are anxious. Examples of the most common avoidance behaviors revealing anxiety are making excuses, wiping the face often to remove hair and/or water from the eyes, holding the body rigid, clenching fists, shivering (even though water is warm), gripping the instructor (especially during floating and submersion skills practice), or performing strokes that are too short, too shallow, too rigid, and/or too fast (American Red Cross, 1992).

Overall guidelines as well as specific guidelines have been recommended to help non-swimmers overcome fear. Generally, regardless of the age group, swimming instructors/physical educators should understand the underlying causes of fear, know that fear is very real to the learner, talk to the swimmer about their fear, work on relaxation, emphasis the "why" and "how" when introducing skills, achieve early success in swimming (any method) a short distance, have warm water if possible, use peer demonstrations, encourage, but do not force, students to attempt skills, build confidence day by day, not in one all-out effort, realize success breeds confidence, and vice versa, use a variety of teaching techniques, give praise when warranted, and never ridicule. Specific guidelines that work well with older children are using a partner (reciprocal teaching method), and encouraging trials when peers are not watching (if safe to do so).

Personal Experiences and Successes

In my personal experiences as a swimming instructor/physical educator, I have found that one of the most important elements to an anxious child is trust. For example, if I tell a child I will not move from a particular spot while they are performing a skill, I do not move (even though they could easily swim a further distance, for instance). Secondly, I have discovered that my ability to breakdown "scary" skills (e.g. putting your whole face in the water) into a variety of manageable chunks empowers children to choose how they would like to learn the skill. I have also found that a sense of humor comes in handy as well as the art of being able to "play" and be "silly" from time to time.

By consistently doing the things mentioned above, I have built trusting and caring relationships with my students, thus, making it easier for them to experience success in performing their swimming skills. Thirdly, it is plain to me that oftentimes children simply need a little more time to learn how to swim than one set of lessons. Perhaps two full summers of lessons rather than just ten 30-minute sessions. Lastly, I realize that although they may not learn to swim while they are taking lessons with me, they often flourish in another environment (e.g. summer school, sports camp) and experience swimming success. I am grateful to know that I may have been part of their success. I feel a sense of great accomplishment when I see students later in life and they are enjoying the freedom of the water.

Hearing From You

I am currently researching anxiety and non-swimmers of all ages. If you have personal methods you use as an instructor for dealing with anxiety that you would like to share, please contact me any time. I would love to hear your research ideas and/or participate in projects with you or your organization. My e-mail is bstillwe@csusb.edu, and my office phone number is (909) 880-5357. Also, if you are an anxious non-swimmer and would like to be a research participant, please contact me as well.

References

American Red Cross (1992). Swimming & diving. St. Louis, MO: Mosby-Year Book, Inc.

Spielberger, Charles, D. (1983). State-trait anxiety inventory. Redwood City, CA: Mind Garden Inc.

Random House Webster's Dictionary. (1993). New York, NY: Random House, Inc.