The Telfs Swimming School has been the first Tyrolean swimming school to offer swimming courses in the Telfer Bad since 1976. In 2006, Mag. Michael Perus took over management from his brother and in June 2006 the first Aquarider® were purchased. Since then, Michael and his team have been offering AquaCycling courses. Since then, 12 Aquarider® has offered 6 courses per week on 2 days.
AquaKinetics (AK): The fact that swimming courses are going well and are fully booked, especially after the pandemic, describes the trend at most swimming schools in the DA-CH area. What seems rather surprising is the fact that AquaCycling courses have established themselves as an integral part of your course world since 2006. How do you explain this phenomenon?
Michael Perus (MP): As a sports teacher, I came into contact with the new aqua fitness trend early on at a trade fair in Cologne. The manufacturer comes from Teningen in Baden-Württemberg. The geographical proximity and good contact with the inventor, manufacturer and owner favored the selection.
AK: How did you introduce the courses in Telfs and what kind of training did you complete as a course leader for the Aqua-rider® courses in addition to your studies as a teacher of sports and exercise?
MP: The equipment of the Aquarider® and the movement concept for the course instructors, which is based on sports science rules, impressed me early on. As a teacher at the Academic High School in Innsbruck and later at the boarding school for ski athletes in Stams, but also as a department head at the Interalpen Hotel Tyrol, the content and curricula of the Aquarider® Academy seemed very professional to me.
AK: What can you say about the technical and physiological features for versatile use, on the one hand in the Interalpen Hotel Tyrol 5*S wellness hotel and on the other hand in your AquaBike Center in a public indoor swimming pool?
MP: The scientific creation of the frame geometry and its dozens of adjustment options to suit virtually every participant in terms of height and weight, but mainly the patented adjustable resistance, which can be individually adapted to every age and performance class, make the Aquarider® a universally adjustable training device. The fact that the physical properties of the water in combination of muscle contraction and immersion pressure play an important role rounds off the highly effective training perfectly.
AK: Does cycling in the water, with its versatile exercises on the aqua bike, count as an alternative to swimming?
MP: It is not intended to be a replacement and, above all, not a competition for swimming - it is suitable for small spaces in swimming schools and hotel pools and is extremely effective. The very useful immersion pressure is even higher than when swimming and is even suitable for non-swimmers.
Thank you very much for the interview.
