Diving into the science of swimming the fun way

Did you know Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Motion that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction is applicable to when you’re in water? While in the water, swimmers must stroke downward to keep moving and stay afloat – opposing equal force that the water expends to swimmers to keep them from moving.

There is no escaping science. It can be always used to explain everything in everyday life. Similarly, there is much science to learn in the art of swimming.

“It is an added benefit when students understand and apply what they know about the science when they swim. For example, in asking them to keep their hands straight, we demonstrate how this is similar to the shape of a ship, plane or rocket that helps to cut through air or water faster.

“When we talk about more air in the lungs will help them float while less air will sink, we apply this to the ballast tank in submarines. We have heard success stories from our Swim Science students from as far as Australia, Singapore and India,” said E.J. Yeap who is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SwimIn12.

The 11-year old institution kicked off the beta testing of Swim Science in March this year, just 10-days after the enforcement of Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) following the worsening of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The order meant that pools would be closed for three months and we thought of ways to keep an interest in swimming, especially for our younger students.

“Led by our coaching team leader Darshini Balakrishnan, we are proud to say we innovated a new style of teaching by incorporating the evergreen laws of science. It helps beginners understand the concept of swimming faster by simplifying the important theory of water physics in an engaging manner.

“The programme also explains how swimming theories apply in many aspects of aerodynamic and marine sciences. With the help of today’s technology, we make Swim Science sessions interactive and interesting for students to follow,” Yeap explained.

Catered to those aged between seven and 18, SwimIn12 hires the help of video communications programme Zoom to conduct lessons.

“We admit that it is not easy to win the crowd when we mention online sessions. However, with Swim Science it’s not a one-way direction. It is more than just listening and watching. We keep it interesting with some activities like quiz sessions and even treasure hunts for things around the house that are relevant to the lesson.

“I’d commend my team of 30-odd coaches at SwimIn12 for innovating this programme, teaching and educating students and keeping the lessons interesting for our students,” he adds.

Swim Science is offered in two packages – eight lessons (RM200) or 20 lessons (RM300) in a month. Yeap takes pride in saying that the programme is a purely Malaysian innovation, observing a similar approach taken a few months later, by a neighbouring country.