ABSTRACT
Swimming is considered as one of the sports played in a different media than other sports. Keeping the cleanliness of the used water media is important for preserving the health and safety of swimmers. This includes the cleanliness and clarity of the water, the proper use of disinfectants and thorough cleanliness to guard against spread of diseases and infectious microorganisms. The aim of this study was to compare and evaluate the closed swimming pools in each of the Faculty of Physical Education for girls in Alexandria, El-kashafa club and YMCA club, as well as to determine the percentage of pathogenic microorganisms in the swimming pools' water and its effect on the microbial flora in the throats and ears of the primary swimmers. The sample of this study was chosen by the non-stratified random sample from the primary swimmers aged from 6-15 years: 20 swimmers from each pool. The following was done: [1]. Questionnaire for the trainees, managers and supervisors of the swimming pools about their evaluation of these pools. [2]. Questionnaire for the parents of the primary swimmers about the frequency of pharyngitis and otitis per year, and their relation with swimming. [3]. Water samples from the swimming pools were taken before and after the cleaning of the pools, and also from the water sources, and total bacterial counts were done and also on Sabouraud's tubes and the organisms isolated from each sample were identified. [4]. Throat and ear swabs were taken from every swimmer and plated on nutrient agar, blood agar, MacConkey's agar and Sabouraud's media. This study clarified that primary swimmers who used the Faculty pool were more liable to throat infection after swimming than those who used EI-Kashafa or YMCA pools, and this difference was statistically significant There was a significant relationship between the frequency of throat infection [more than 4 times per year] in case of affection with Hemophilus in EI-Kashafa pool swimmers, while there was a significant relationship between infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactia and Hemophilus in YMCA pool swimmers. There was a significant relationship between swimming in Faculty pool and affection with beta-hemolytic streptococci which cause pharyngitis, while this was not significant in other pools swimmers