Crecimiento físico y aptitud física de nadadores y no nadadores de una región del Perú

Introduction: The evaluation of physical growth and fitness is considered a beneficial task for health and sports performance. Objective: To compare the physical growth and fitness of young swimmers and non-swimmers in a region of Peru. Methodology: A descriptive (comparative) study was carried out in children and adolescents aged 6 to 13 years. Two study groups were formed. Group 1: Swimming practitioners (swimmers) and Group 2: Non-swimming practitioners (non-swimmers). Anthropometric measurements of weight, height, sitting height, waist circumference (WC) and the physical tests of horizontal jump (HH) and agility were evaluated. Body Mass Index (BMI) and maturity status were calculated. Significant differences were determined by means of the “t” test for independent samples. Results: There were no differences in weight, sitting height and height between both groups in all age ranges (p>0.05). In CC, swimmers of both sexes showed lower values in relation to non-swimmers at least from 6-7 years, 8-9 years and 10-11 years (p<0.05). In the physical tests, there were no differences in agility between both groups (p>0.05), however, in the SH, swimmers showed better performance than their similar non-swimmers (P<0.05), in males at 10-11 years and 12-13 years (p<0.05) and in females in all age ranges (p<0.05). Conclusion: Young swimmers and non-swimmers presented a similar pattern of physical growth in weight and height, except in CC, where non-swimmers showed higher values. In the physical tests, both groups evidenced similar agility values in all age ranges and swimmers showed better results in SH than their similar non-swimmers. These results suggest that the practice of swimming three times a week has a positive role on the anthropometric profile, adipose and lower limb strength performance.