Fear of the Aquatic Environment in Learning Swimming: Causes, Effects, and Learning Methodologies

Abstract

In the swimming context, practitioners show difficulties in learning its basic skills, and the emotional factor seems to be one of the triggers for these complications, with “fear” standing out as one of the most studied emotions due to its cognitive reactive nature associated with survival mechanisms. This emotional response can hinder the learning process in swimming, potentially leading to disengagement or dropout. The present study aimed to analyze the causes that lead to fear of the aquatic environment, its effects on learning swimming, and how swimming coaches can intervene to help overcome this fear. Direct observation was used to capture the individuals’ perception of the degree of fear. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted to analyze an intervention aimed at reducing the fear of water, followed by a corresponding content analysis. The fear of water is commonly associated with anxiety, panic, and muscle tension. The role of the swimming instructor is crucial, as their teaching approach significantly influences the swimmer’s emotional response, particularly in fostering a sense of security. The use of playful activities proves effective in helping children adapt, overcoming the limitations posed by the fear of water. Recognizing students’ fears allows instructors to structure swimming lessons effectively, helping students overcome their emotional barriers. Therefore, introducing children to the aquatic environment at an early age contributes to this goal.

1. Introduction

Sports are a tool for building the practitioner’s development and personality, helping with social integration and active life. Today, it is considered one of the greatest social phenomena, playing a crucial role in health, education, and recreation sectors. It is understood as “all forms of physical activity that, through occasional or organized participation, aim to maintain or improve physical condition and mental well-being, create social relationships, or achieve results in competitions at all levels” (Council of Europe, 2021, p. 12).

Sports training is a very important process in children and young people’s lives, contributing to their continuous development through to adulthood, and it should not be solely focused on high performance but rather represent an educational teaching/learning process. Sports’ growth highlights the need for physical activities as opportunities for self-knowledge and improvements in quality of life (Bailey et al., 2010; Bento, 2004, 2006). It is essential that training and competition programs focus on the mental, cognitive, and emotional development of all athletes without exception, helping to reduce the risk associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and fear.

Similarly, motivation for practicing sports is a determining factor for an athlete’s success and is directly related to the effort they put into their performance. It is important to mention that motivation does not have a direct relationship with performance or execution; however, actions’ success will be more easily achieved through higher levels of motivation (Araújo, 2015). Regarding sports practice in young athletes, Prado et al. (2022) state that motivation comes from a combination of social, environmental, and individual principles that can influence the choice of specific sports and can foster persistence and continuity in sports practice.

Regardless of whether the context is recreational or competitive, motivation tends to counteract dropout, which, according to Nobre (2021), is associated with a range of negative experiences and decisions rooted in dissatisfaction with the practice itself and its level of progress.

Motivation to practice swimming is multifaceted and varies among athletes, but persistence is often driven by personal goals, guidance from coaches, and satisfaction with one’s own sport’s performance. It is recognized that challenges such as external pressures, injuries, or lack of positive results can lead to dropout, highlighting the importance of adopting management strategies for these obstacles to preserve long-term sport involvement (Monteiro, 2017; K. Silva, 2018).

Chaves et al. (2015) mention that emotional factors can also drive difficulties in learning basic swimming skills, where fear related to survival, combined with learning how to swim, can create blocks or delays in the child’s progress and, consequently, promote dropout in certain situations.

Coaches play a fundamental role in creating a positive environment, clearly and precisely setting goals at each stage of training and providing emotional support, which are key conditions in the decision to remain in sports practice. Therefore, training programs for coaches are necessary to promote interpersonal skills and a deeper understanding of their athletes’ individual motivations (Ribeiro, 2022).

In swimming lessons, it is important to limit the fear that an individual may feel toward the aquatic environment, as this can lead to phobic behaviors that hinder the learning process. While most individuals feel comfortable in water, those suffering from aquaphobia face significant challenges in learning to swim (Roche et al., 2022).

It is noteworthy that children feel insecure when entering the aquatic environment, especially during their first contact with water, in their first swimming lesson, in a new environment, and with unfamiliar people. Therefore, it is very important to help them develop trust so they can feel safe and thus be able to begin working on critical components such as balance, breathing, and propulsion (Prado et al., 2022).

This phobia may arise in children and be derived from unfortunate experiences (such as forced immersion, falling, or inhaling water) or from parents’ anxiety, which they may unconsciously transmit through verbal and/or non-verbal language (Morouço et al., 2020).

The same authors point out that training programs for younger children should be an appropriate means to reveal all their abilities and to develop all their capacities. It is the teachers’ and other agents’ responsibility to ensure safety and to create a trusting, fun environment, calm students’ fears, and invite children to explore new skills related to adapting to the aquatic environment while respecting each child’s individual learning pace.

In line with the previous thoughts, the present study aims to identify the causes and effects of fear of the aquatic environment in learning swimming, as well as the methodologies used to overcome these obstacles.

2. Methods

Given the nature of this research problem, the study was conducted within a qualitative research paradigm using a semi-structured interview, combined with an observation process consisting of two stages, with one prior to the interview and another following it to verify the learning methodologies’ produced effects recommended by the interviewees.

2.1. Participants

The study group, drawn from a swimming school in Viseu where the sessions were conducted, was divided into three distinct groups. The first group consisted of five children, aged six, from a recreational class, with sessions held under the supervision of their parents. The second group included eight adult students who experienced fear of the aquatic environment. The third group comprised two teachers, one assigned to the recreational classes and the other to the adult classes. Groups 1 and 2 were selected following the first observation (detailed in Section 2.3), which defined the inclusion criteria for the study groups.

2.2. Instrument

Since the goal was to analyze the participants’ opinions, attitudes, and representations, the interview technique was employed, as it was considered the most suitable means to assess the interviewees’ social and emotional context (Santos & Lima, 2019). A semi-structured format was chosen for its flexibility in exploring unanticipated topics, if deemed relevant. A reference guide was developed to ask open-ended questions, ensuring that the interview was neither rigid nor entirely free while allowing the interviewee to respond naturally and in a more informal language.

The structured interview approach enabled the interviewer to gather in-depth information, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the participant’s perspective. Consequently, it involved a personal relationship between the interviewer and the interviewees (Batista et al., 2017).

The interview guide (see Supplementary Materials) was structured around several dimensions, according to the different study groups, to identify the causes of fear within the aquatic environment and explore its effects on both physical and mental levels as follows: Group 1—“Fear of water”, “Incidents”, “Emotional reactions”, and “Family influence”; Group 2—“Motivation for classes”, “Causes of fear”, “Emotional reactions”, and “Family support”; Group 3—“Identification of aquaphobia cases”, “Initial contact with water”, “Teaching/modeling methods”, “Time needed to overcome fear”, and “Teacher profile”.

After the interviews, content analysis was performed. According to Bardin (2009, p. 49), content analysis is defined as “a set of communication analysis techniques aimed at obtaining, through systematic and objective procedures, the messages’ content description, indicating knowledge that allows inferences about the conditions under which these messages were produced.”

In this context, content analysis served as a data processing technique to analyze the information collected from the interviews. It helped the researcher describe and interpret the interviewees’ narratives, focusing on key points related to the study’s topic.

2.3. Procedures

Since the study was conducted in a private school, there was a strong commitment to adhering to the highest ethical standards in all operations and activities. In recognition of the importance of safeguarding the rights and well-being of all participants, every aspect of the procedures was carefully designed and executed with ethical considerations at the forefront. This included ensuring transparency, fairness, and respect for individual autonomy. As the initiative in question pertains to a curricular internship, it is important to note that, in accordance with institutional guidelines, there was no requirement to submit the project to an ethics committee. Nevertheless, rigorous ethical practices were conducted with the utmost respect for the participants’ rights and well-being. As part of ethical obligations, informed consent from all participants involved in any activities or research initiatives was obtained. This process ensures that each individual is fully aware of the scope, purpose, and potential outcomes of their participation and that they voluntarily agree to be involved. Participants were given the opportunity to ask questions and have their concerns addressed before providing their consent. Importantly, they retained the right to withdraw from any activity at any time without facing any negative consequences. These measures aimed to foster a responsible and respectful environment, promoting trust and collaboration among all parties involved.

A detailed observation of the participants’ context was first conducted, focusing on their difficulties and on the effects fear of the aquatic environment causes them. The analysis categories included in the observation guide for the first group were based on seven basic skills, including (1) entering the water (via a staircase or by jumping into the water); (2) walking through the pool (a total distance of 8 m); (3) exclusive exhalation through the mouth; (4) leg kicking at the pool’s edge in a prone position; (5) horizontal flotation in supine position with support from a “foam noodle”; (6) face immersion in the water; and (7) jumping into the water (feet first) (Graham & Gaffan, 1997). Regarding the second group, the guide contained the following categories: (1) entering the water; (2) breathing; (3) exhalation through the mouth; (4) swimming styles (ability to perform the “crawl” and “backstroke” styles across the pool—25 m); (5) horizontal flotation with support; (6) coordination of upper and lower limbs (alternative arm movement and flutter kicks); and (7) interaction with the instructor and other participants (verbal and non-verbal).

For the skills mentioned above, the following scoring scale was assigned: (a) 2 points (skill’s spontaneous completion); (b) 1 point (skill’s hesitant completion); and (c) 0 points (inability to perform the skill). This initial characterization process, which included the scores’ sum calculation, allowed for the creation of groups that would later undergo the interview process. The athletes were then classified into the following three categories according to the total points accumulated: (a) adults—“fearful of water” (between 0 and 4 points), “losing the fear” (between 5 and 9 points), and “not afraid of water” (between 10 and 14 points); (b) children—“afraid” (between 0 and 5 points), “losing the fear” (between 6 and 9 points), and “not afraid” (between 10 and 14 points).

After conducting the interviews with all participants, the second and final phase of observation took place following the proposed instructors’ strategies to attempt to alleviate/overcome the students’ fears.

The first observation, for the adult group, was conducted between 4 and 7 March 2024, while the children’s group was observed on 4 May 2024. The interviews were scheduled according to the participants’ availability, conducted individually, with an average duration of thirty-five minutes.

3. Results

The dimensions and subdimensions identified in

Table 1. Interview categorization for study group 1.

Dimension	Subdimension	Answer
1. Fear and water reactions	1. Emotional reactions	“…in class, it happens occasionally if she is tired…”
		“…at first, it was difficult to get into the water, so I would get upset…”
	2. Incidents/dangers	“…no, never happened…”
		“…sometimes, the grandparents say that it is dangerous…”
2. Family’s support and influence	1. Family comments	“…it is dangerous…”
	2. Family experiences	“…i am somewhat afraid, especially if it’s outside of a controlled environment…”

correspond to the interviewees’ accounts and support the literature that infers the fear of water with family influence being identified as the main cause. As highlighted in the pioneer study by Graham and Gaffan (1997), children’s fear of water is caused by direct experiences, such as accidents or near-drownings, as well as by negative experiences that occur during swimming lessons. Indirect experiences, such as observing peers with a similar fear of water or hearing drowning stories, were also mentioned. Fear was also attributed to an innate cause or without a specific identified reason, with reporting that fear is present from the first contact with water without any obvious direct or indirect experience to explain it.

The categories “fear and reactions to water” and “family support and influence” are directly relevant to this study’s objective, as they aim to analyze the causes of fear of water in children and, in parallel, examine the professionals’ intervention in attempting to alleviate the fear. Understanding children’s emotional reactions and their family influences provides valuable insights to develop effective intervention strategies.

The identified dimensions in the interviews with the adult group (

Table 2. Interview categorization for study group 2.

Dimension	Subdimension	Answer
1. Motivation for classes	1. Learn to swim	“…i started swimming lessons to improve my health and have greater mobility…” “…overcome my fear and feel more comfortable in the water…”
	2. Physical benefits	“…i started swimming lessons to improve my health and have greater mobility…” “…increase cardiovascular endurance…” “…reduce shoulder pain and increase the benefits inherent in sports practice…”
2. Fear causes	1. Direct experiences	“…i had an incident when i was a child, i almost drowned…” “…in the swimming lessons’ context, provided by the school…”
3. Emotional reactions	1. Anxiety and nervousness	“…i start to panic, can’t breathe…” “…i have some difficulty breathing and i get tense…” “…feel anxiety, with an increase in heart rate…”
	2. Anticipated fear	“…i am afraid of drowning, especially if I can’t touch the pool’s bottom…”
4. Family support	1. Positive reinforcement	“…i have my family’s support…” “…yes, my boyfriend/girlfriend…”
	2. No support	“No.”

) reflect aspects widely discussed in the literature on hydrophobia and swimming, particularly in the study by A. Silva (2007), which provides a solid foundation for determining the factors that condition the fear of water and, above all, how to intervene to alleviate it in the aquatic environment.

The dimensions presented in

Table 3. Interview categorization for study group 3.

Dimension	Subdimension	Answer
1. Case identification	1. Definition and symptoms	“…fear of water or water rejection in the mucous membrane…”
	2. Identification and overcoming	“…great difficulty in getting my face wet, opening my eyes underwater…”
2. Initial contact with water	1. Initial procedures	“…entering the water with them, to provide them with a sense of security…”
	2. Emotions and physical symptoms	“…anxiety, nervousness, hyperventilation, fear, and lack of confidence…”
3. Didactic/methodological models	1. Initial content	“…water acceptance in the mucous membranes and starting with simpler content…”
	2. Content progression	“…start with vertical balance, horizontal balance, and breathing…”
	3. Class characteristics	“…always perform exercises safely so that the person doesn’t get scared and regress…”
4. Overcoming time	1. Duration	“…it may take 1 or more years…”
	2. Usual profile	“…usually, there was a previous situation in which the person felt unwell in an aquatic context…”
5. Teacher profile	1. Important skills	“…empathy and patience to allow students to progress at their own pace…”
	2. Support types	“…specific training; use of didactic materials and various floatation devices…”
	3. Specific training	“…yes, it is fundamental…”

refer to understanding teachers’ roles and interventions, who must ensure that students get to have the opportunity to explore the aquatic environment, as well as the distinct types of movement their bodies can perform within that environment (Prado et al., 2022). In this regard, the author emphasizes the students’ motivation in relation to movement in water, initially focusing on the experience (rather than technique), valuing the assimilation of the sensations water creates in their bodies (body awareness). In the aquatic environment, the swimming instructor plays a crucial role in the child’s development, where each stage of progress should be calculated in a gradual and evolutionary manner without skipping steps or compromising the students’ expectations.

4. Discussion

Regarding the causes of fear in children, the results of the present study reveal that these fears are generally related to indirect factors, meaning the transmission of fear through family members who tell and take actions that associate the aquatic environment with a dangerous context. As already emphasized, aquaphobia, also known as the fear of the aquatic environment, is a complex phenomenon that can affect both children and adults, and it represents a significant concern with the negative impact on learning swimming.

According to Fonseca-Pinto et al. (2023), this phobia can originate from multiple factors, such as insecurity when dealing with unfamiliar movements resulting from the differences between movement on land and in water, past negative experiences, such as forced immersions, or conversely, the fear transmission from parents to children. Chaves et al. (2015) emphasize that this fear often arises from traumatic experiences during aquatic activities, such as nervousness, anxiety, and fear, describing how, in the experiences of the practitioners, the fear of the “unknown” is evident (felt due to a lack of knowledge or experience in the pool).

The study by Bakar and Bakar (2017) adds to the aforementioned factors, including the instinctive fear of drowning, which occurs in both beginner swimmers and competitive swimmers, causing a sensation of greater weight and increased difficulty in water movement. This phobia can result from an incident that provoked terror in the individual or from a learning moment that began with significant discomfort due to the athlete’s unwillingness or at the insistence of one of the parents. From a physiological and biomechanical perspective, Pérez (2010) indicates that the fear of water is generally caused by the demands of sudden position changes or the loss and confusion of sensory input from the feet, inner ear, joints, and visual cues, in addition to difficulties with breathing and immersion.

Despite the aquatic environment’s potential to convey a sense of pleasure, Brouco (2016) points out that when fear is present, it becomes a barrier to learning, especially in children. Therefore, the use of playful activities and sensory games can be effective in overcoming this obstacle. The results of his study suggest that by creating quick and easy-to-execute moments in the water through a playful and/or recreational method, learning to swim is facilitated.

Focusing on a more pedagogical and adapted approach, organized in the teaching method called adaptation to the aquatic environment (AMA) in a circuit, Morouço et al. (2020) proposed a promising alternative to stimulate interest and reduce the fear that frequently arises in swimming lessons. In this approach, the teacher plays the role of mediator between students and the aquatic context. The authors suggest that this method provides a clear aquatic awakening for children, where fun prevails over fear and apprehension of skills while being more sensitive to individual differences and learning rhythms.

None of the children who participated in this study were involved in events that placed them in danger in the water, demonstrating that the absence of direct traumatic experiences does not constitute a source of fear in this context. However, discomfort or irritation was observed in situations associated with water, possibly contributing to a negative feeling toward the aquatic environment. Regarding negative experiences near water, half of the children reported feeling “annoyed” at the beginning of swimming lessons, when entering the water, or taking a bath. In adults, fear is related to traumatic experiences encountered firsthand during childhood or adolescence, almost always associated with drowning or near-drowning.

The interviewees revealed that phobia identification occurs mainly through the observation of difficulties in specific actions such as wetting the face, opening the eyes underwater, and properly performing the breathing technique. As a result, it is crucial to promote gradual adaptation, allowing one to feel comfortable at one’s own pace. In terms of teaching models, the initial stage involves accepting water on the mucous membranes, then progressing to movements with the help of floatation devices. In general, children require a practice period of two to three months to overcome their difficulties.

While the effect of fear in children seems to manifest as resistance and discomfort when entering the water, immobility, and a lack of ease in moving within the water, in adults, it predominantly manifests as a physical response, including difficulty breathing, muscle tension causing tremors, and panic.

Although it is not yet possible to precisely determine the required period for an athlete to overcome their aquatic environment fear, as it is a complex process dependent on intrinsic (individual traits) and extrinsic (fear severity, willingness to confront the fear, and the effectiveness of used strategies, among others) factors, the interviewee group (group 3) perceives that, on average, a period of two to four months is needed to alleviate/overcome water aversion, assuming active participation in at least two weekly sessions.

Studies focused on scales’ development and validation for measuring aquatic skills, such as the one by Moreno-Murcia et al. (2020), contribute to the development of more accurate methods for evaluating and intervening in aquaphobia-involved factors, being essential to improve swimming programs and pedagogical practices.

The teaching model for adults begins with work on hierarchized progressions to breathing and propulsion. Adults may take longer to overcome their fear, sometimes a year or more, and the teacher’s profile should include traits of “empathy and patience,” according to the interviewees’ perceptions.

Considering the time gap between the two observation processes, it was inferred that the practical sessions produced a quicker positive effect in the children’s age group, although with less depth compared to the adult age group. This is because the latter demonstrated greater consistency in swimming strokes. On the other hand, the younger participants showed developmental evidence in basic skills such as entering the water or performing immersion.

In the previous lines of thought, different strategies may help in alleviating and overcoming aquaphobia. Roche et al. (2022) suggest virtual reality as an innovative strategy that allows individuals to visually experience situations in the aquatic environment without physical risk, thus reducing the heart rate and potentially fear, similar to treatments used for reducing other phobias such as arachnophobia, agoraphobia, or acrophobia. The potential of virtual reality is acknowledged, although this process has not yet been explored in great depth (Botella et al., 2017).

Misimi et al. (2020) identified three essential factors for determining the degree of aquaphobia, namely the importance of the first steps in learning to swim, the fear of open water conditions, and the relevance of safe entry into the water and gliding.

Given the multifactorial nature of fear of the aquatic environment, properly preparing and organizing (pedagogical) practice is crucial to avoid trauma occurrence and overcoming it, aiming at the practitioner’s adaptability to the water.

5. Conclusions

Fear of the aquatic environment is a significant factor in learning how to swim, affecting the practitioners’ performance, particularly in the initial phase of the learning process. The causes are varied, ranging from physical to psychological factors, such as previous negative experiences or feelings of insecurity and a lack of control in the aquatic environment, all of which compromise the students’ progress.

Appropriate teaching methodologies can substantially mitigate this phobia, especially when gradually and strategically introduced into the aquatic environment using relaxation techniques, positive reinforcement, and adapting exercises to the specificities and comfort levels of each practitioner, resulting in the promotion of an effective, safe, and welcoming environment that facilitates overcoming fear.

Consequently, it is essential for swimming professionals to have the necessary skills to deal with technical and emotional obstacles, as well as the practitioners’ insecurities, using pedagogical practices that understand the emotional mechanisms involved, aiming to transform fear into a motivating factor with the goal of achieving effective and lasting learning in swimming.

To strengthen the extrapolated indicators, it is relevant to expand the scope to include the observation of potential topics related to self-esteem, body well-being, and self-concept (esthetics), which may influence contact with aquatic environments, since low self-esteem tends to promote avoiding body exposure in such spaces.

Seeking a holistic and contextualized understanding of phenomena, often adopting a small but intentionally selected sample to reflect the experiences’ diversity within that context, the goal is to provide a detailed and deep interpretation of the practices, interactions, and meanings that emerge in that specific environment.

Therefore, the geographical expansion of the instrument’s use domain is suggested, as each environment has its own dynamics and characteristics. Replicating the study in different demographic contexts becomes essential to validate the conclusions’ applicability.