To strength freshmen students swimming skills, Tamkang University has decided to extend its freshmen swimming lessons from the original four to eight weeks, starting from the 2010 academic year. The focus of the new swimming course will also be different from the old one which aimed at helping students to learn how to swim. The new course emphasizes teaching them self-rescue program and enhancing their swimming skills.

Section Chief Liu Tsun-te of Physical Education Instruction Section, Office of Physical Education, said that they extend the swimming courses to help those who cannot swim learn the basic skill of swimming. “Those who already know how to swim can also advance their skills while those who are afraid of water can learn self-rescue,” he added.

Tsai Min-chen, freshman in Department of Business Administration, said he hopes he can learn swimming after the eight weeks lesson. “The instructor taught us how to do the so-called survival float, so I learn that basic self-rescue skill.” The instructors also arrange more aqua-related sports and activities because the lessons are now taught in longer weeks, making the swimming course more fun to attend. Tsai said these activities and one-on-one swimming lesson helped her a great deal in conquering her fear of water. Another freshman in the Department of Business Administration Hsieh I-ching said she knew how to do front stroke and she wanted to sharpen her skill with these lessons.

Meanwhile, fitness test which is a requirement for all attendees of freshmen physical education course now also extended to both sophomore and junior students on their PE classes. In this way, students can have an overall view of his or her physical condition for the whole three years in TKU.

Liu said that students can log on the following website http://w5.tku.edu.tw/fitness/ to check on their fitness passport to see if their physical strength is above standard. “We extend the fitness test to three years so that everyone can know which part of physical strength he or she should improve in the future.” For instance, if your muscle strength needs to be boosted, you should take on weight training lesson in the future, he added. Office of Physical Education will also launch new afterschool lessons, starting next semester, allowing students who find their physical condition in decline to join to strength their physical prowess. Chung Chia-ming, a sophomore student in the Department of Statistics, said the fitness test can help her understand what is the problem that caused her lack of physical strength. “I can start training and see if I have improved before the next test,” she added. ( ~ Yeh Yun-kai )