This time a week ago, many researchers with a common interest in water activities converged on the Fukuoka University for the annual Swimming and Water Exercise (SWEX) conference. One may think that with such a narrow topic that there would be few researchers in the area of study. On the contrary, there were well in excess of 200 delegates attending and nearly all were Japanese researchers – the only exception was Jim Lee. It amazed Jim that there were so many people from one country researching water-based human movement and exercise. All areas of aquatic activities were represented – water-based aerobic exercise, triathlon, synchronised swimming, diving, and swimming among others.
QSTC’s adjunct, Associate Professor Yuji Ohgi received an award for best presentation. Ohgi-san’s presentation was on his work developing stoke identification from data collected from a chest mounted inertial sensor. Dr Koichi Kaneda also received a prize for his presentation of water-based exercise research during his stay at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Jim also came away with a good impression of the hospitality and genuine interest of attendees to each other’s work. This should not surprise him due to him regularly encountering this type of interaction during his almost completed 12-month stay in Japan.
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