Knowledge of breaststroke swimming technique among students of Primary Teacher Education at the Faculty of Education

The goal of our survey was to determine the knowledge of swimming among the senior students of Primary Teacher Education at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana. The sample consisted of 59 male and female students of generation 2008/2009 and 66 students of generation 2009/2010. Through observation and the analysis of the video we wanted to determine the knowledge of breaststroke swimming technique and the most common mistakes in this swimming technique. To determine the swimming knowledge, we used survey scales. To find out which mistakes are the most common, we used a set of errors in accordance with the correct basic breaststroke swimming rules. The technique was evaluated as a whole and each part separately: breast stroke, arm stroke, head movement and breathing in coordination with the stroke and coordination. The obtained data were statistically processed with the computer programmes SPSS 20.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) and Microsoft Excel. The Results of the survey showed that the senior students of Primary Teacher Education at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana do not master basic breaststroke technique well and there is no significant difference between the two generations, neither in the knowledge of swimming techniques nor in the types of mistakes. By analysing the results we found the most common mistakes among the students, namely swimming with the head outside the water, unfinished stroke, elbows being too deep under water during the stroke and lack of outward facing palm