Pysical activity, particularly swimming, that brings a lot of benefits to subjects with spinal cord injury, can be started during rehabilitation. The aims of this study were to describe the initial ability to swim of patients with spinal cord injury during the rehabilitation program at the Sarah Hospital - Center. METHODS: 170 patients were evaluated in three steps - medical records data collection, oral interview and swimming evaluation. The results showed that a large proportion of patients did not enter the swimming pool or swam after spinal cord injury. Only a small part returned to swimming after the spinal cord injury. Moreover, reduction in patients who swam regularly before the spinal cord injury was observed. CONCLUSION: There was a reduction in swimming practice, regardless of being a sport, physical or leisure activity after spinal cord injury.
swimming; spinal cord injury
