The water aerobics instructor, the responsible for providing the service, have a very important
role in the participants perception of quality, satisfaction and loyalty. The aim of this study is to: a) determine
and compare the perception of water aerobics participants, regarding the quality of instructors, according to
the age; b) determine and compare the perception of water aerobics participants, regarding the quality of
instructors, according to the experience of practice. A questionnaire (QIF-AG) was used to assess the quality of
the group fitness activities instructor, applied to 163 practitioners. According to the age, there are significant
differences in the categories of communication, gaiety and assiduity, generally coming from the participants
with [40 to 50 [years of age, who present a lower quality perception compared to the other groups in study.
Regarding the second objective, according to the experience of practice, the differences occur in the categories
motivation, punctuality, musical skills, innovation, dedication, technical execution, as well as in the technicalpedagogical
quality dimension, coming from the group of [3 to 4 [years of experience, which also present an
inferior perception of quality when compared with the other groups under analysis. Considering the obtained
results, it is possible to conclude that the quality is perceived in a different way, according to the characteristics
of the participants (age and experience), and that the water aerobics instructor must adapt the intervention
considering such perception, in the sense of keeping the participants satisfaction and loyalty, thus avoiding the
dropout of sports practice.
KEY WORDS: Quality, Fitness, Instructor, Water Aerobics, Age, Experience.