FEATURES OF USING AQUAFITNESS EQUIPMENT IN TRAINING ATHLETES WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Abstract

Ukrainian Paralympians are known all over the world today, they worthily represent the national Invasport at international competitions in all classification nosologies. For the first time, Ukrainian athletes with special needs took part in the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, USA, winning one gold, four silver and two bronze medals. At the last Paralympics in the French capital in 2024, Ukrainian invasportists won 22 gold, 28 silver and 32 bronze medals, which allowed the national Paralympians to take seventh place in the unofficial team standings of the Games. The indicated outstanding results are directly related to the rather successful combination of management and marketing programs of the Ukrainian Invasport system. National sports science does not leave the problem of optimizing the process of long-term training of Paralympians outside the sphere of its influence. Our scientists have studied all aspects of the multifactorial nature of training athletes with special needs − the blind and visually impaired, the deaf and hearing impaired, athletes with musculoskeletal injuries and mental retardation. But the process of using innovative approaches that are universal in the training of athletes with disabilities of all nosologies requires more detailed study. Aquafitness or aqua aerobics is a direction of the physical culture and health complex, which has rapid dynamics in the field of fitness services. From the point of view of a systemic approach, aquafitness is represented by a set of physical exercises of a specific focus and impact on organs and their systems in the conditions of an abiotic (aquatic) environment, which, due to its physical properties, plays the role of a multifunctional simulator, includes organized and independent classes using special means that provide for the solution of health, rehabilitation and training tasks. Therefore, the leitmotif of writing this scientific publication was the validation of the features of using aquafitness in the training of athletes of the Invasport system.