A competitive swimming program developed by University of Queensland researchers for young people with severe cerebral palsy has reversed motor decline associated with the condition. Professor Sean Tweedy from UQ's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences and the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies leads the ParaSTART program, a longitudinal research program aimed at evaluating whether performance-focused sports training improves clinical outcomes for people with severe disabilities. Our first ParaSTART intake included 3 young people with severe cerebral palsy.
We deliberately selected people with no prior swimming experience to ensure the findings would apply to anyone with severe cerebral palsy. The training program replicated the sporting environment that Para athletes experience when training for competitions, including 2-3 training sessions per week complemented by strength and conditioning work, diet and sleep. The participants worked extremely hard, and despite not being able to stand or walk independently, they can now swim one kilometre in a training session – which would test some non-disabled swimmers.
" Professor Sean Tweedy from UQ's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences and the Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies The results from the first 4 years of the program were impressive. "As we anticipated, the participants have improved both their swimming speed and distance," Professor Tweedy said. Related Stories New.