Para-swimming
Your mission: Perform a course immersed in water using only your arms to prepare for your future extravehicular activity!
This resource was created by CNES, ESERO France 2024

During their spacewalks outside the space station, astronauts find themselves in the vacuum of space, attached to the station only by their hands and a safety tether. With their bulky spacesuits allowing them to breathe in space, their movements are highly restricted, and they must slowly pull themselves along the station’s exterior using their arms.
Before traveling to the station, astronauts train in massive swimming pools. Swimming is also a key event in the Paralympic Games, where athletes of all disabilities compete in the same events as in the Olympic Games.
Your mission is to train for movement during extravehicular activities. To do so, you will need to cross the pool using only your arms, without relying on your legs.
Coordination, Endurance, Strength, Spatial Awareness
Develop motor skills and build body awareness.
Learn and apply methods and tools through individual or group practice.
Share rules, take on roles, and accept responsibilities to foster teamwork.
Maintain health through regular physical activity.
Embrace a culture of physical, sporting, and artistic expression.
- Pool with water lines and ropes
- Pool equipment: mats, foam noodles…
- Optional: Watch or stopwatch
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