INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study is to investigate in how far the school subjects swimming and physics can benefit from each other when teaching them together in an inter-disciplinary and experience based context. It was expected that a comprehensive background knowledge about the biomechanics of swimming help improving a swimming technique. On the other hand, teaching physics in the context swimming was supposed to be an advantage regarding improving interest in physics as school subject. Gained experiences in the context of swimming should make it easier for the students to deal theoretically with the respective topics as well. METHODS: Two parallel school classes (7th grade) of a German Gymnasium were taught separately over six weeks. In the experimental group (N=25), physics and swimming were taught as a unit in the context of "moving efficiently through the water". In the control group (N=26), physics and swimming were taught separately. Besides the different arrangement and teaching method, it was tried to keep the aims and contents similar in both groups. Standardized tests were conducted in order to evaluate different factors such as knowledge, interest in physics, and swimming technique (Noethlichs and Schulz 2007). RESULTS: Results showed that both groups improved their breast stroke technique significantly but with an advantage for the experimental group. The knowledge test indicated a significant increase of the experimental group in comparison to the control group. DISCUSSION: Within the experimental group, learning the physics of swimming were directly linked to personal experiences and experiments in the water. The students experienced for instance different forces in the water with their own body and they tried to investigate how they could take advantage of those forces regarding an efficient movement through the water. Subsequent theoretical reflections gained an experience- based background knowledge, which seemed to enable improving their breast stroke technique autonomously. The control group students depended more on the teacher`s instructions and feedback. In addition, the experience-based method supported the understanding of the physics of swimming significantly which can reasonably be related to the specific teaching design.
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