NSPF awards its largest-ever grant.

The National Swimming Pool Foundation recently awarded its largest grant ever to Drs. Bruce Becker and Susan Dunlap at Washington State University for a study regarding the impact of water exercise on respiratory function.

Becker's research team will compare health benefits of aquatic exercise

"Literature supports that cardiovascular conditioning can occur and that aerobic endurance improves," he said. "But no studies exist that show a rate of change, and no studies currently demonstrate the effect of aquatic exercise on the respiratory system."

"This grant is consistent with NSPF's mission to promote the benefits of aquatic activity by fostering research in that area," said Thomas Lachocki, CEO of NSPF in Colorado Springs, Colo. "Most people believe there are benefits to water-based exercise, but there's never been enough scientific proof to support that.

"If we can back up the industry's claims with scientific data," he added, "we can get more people swimming and improve the quality of their lives."

Roughly half of the $ 247,000 grant also will go toward creation of an aquatic research laboratory at WSU in Pullman, Wash. Lachocki said much of NSPF's intention in awarding such a large grant was to found a center for continued research on other areas of aquatic health.

"It isn't just money to buy equipment for this study," Becker pointed out. "It buys equipment for a lot of studies, and establishes a laboratory center of excellence."

In fact, once the respiratory research is completed, NSPF hopes to partner with members of the spa industry to fund another WSU study exploring the benefits of immersion in the hot-water units.

"The center could be potentially huge for [the pool and spa industry]," said Becker, who has been involved in various areas of aquatic therapy since 1979. "You can gain a lot of recognition as an industry with clinically applied science."