Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the effects of baby swimming on subsequent motor abilities.
Background: A range of motor abilities was examined in 4-year-old children who had previously participated in a programme of baby swimming (n= 19) and compared with a matched group of coevals who had not had this experience (n= 19).
Results: As predicted from the nature of the exercises that comprise the programme, the effects of baby swimming were restricted to abilities associated with prehension and balance.
Conclusions: Suggestions are made as to how the theme of this hypothesis-generating, demonstration study can be pursued in the future with more rigorous experimental controls and applications to children with disabilities and impairments.