Since healthful use of leisure time is advocated for all members of our society, the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania has a strong commitment to offering and exposing young people with spina bifida to enriching, challenging, and therapeutic leisure activities. Swimming is, without a doubt, the most beneficial and widely available athletic program for a person with spina bifida.

Water sports, unlike any other sport, offers total freedom from the constraints of heavy braces and wheelchairs. The water provides weightless support for weak or paralyzed legs. Parents and swimming instructors are often skeptical about recommending swimming as an exercise for a child or adult with spina bifida because they are afraid it might be dangerous. Yet swimming is the best exercise, both physically and emotionally for an individual with spina bifida.

Swimming is considered one of the best all-around forms of aerobic activity because it contributes to body strength, flexibility and endurance with a minimum of muscle , bone, and joint strain. In addition, the low stress and low gravity environment of the water provides an ideal activity for the handicapped and the aged.

(1)The physical contribution of swimming are important but everyone s hould understand that emotional well-being adds to your physical well-being. Swimming is not a cure-all, but for the handicapped, it is a terrifically success-oriented activity. It combine s the good feeling of being active and the good feeling of succeeding. So it helps your emotional well-being as well.

(2)One young woman with spina bifida supports these statements by saying, Swimming makes me feel like I'm on the same level with everyone else. I don't feel inhibited by my crutches and it makes me feel healthy.