Effect of an 11-Week In-Water Training Program With Increased Resistance on the Swimming Performance and the Basic Kinematic Characteristics of the Front Crawl Stroke

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of an 11 week in-water training program with increased resistance on the swimming performance and the basic kinematic characteristics of the front crawl stroke in young female swimmers. Twelve swimmers were matched in pairs according to their best performance in 50 m front crawl swimming and then were randomly assigned to an experimental or to a control group. Both groups followed exactly the same swimming training program. The only exception was that the experimental group performed a sprint training section with increased resistance pulling a water parachute, while the control group performed the same section without parachute. Before and after the intervention program, the best performance of both groups in 50, 100 and 200 m front crawl swimming were assessed. Moreover, the basic kinematic characteristics of the stroke were calculated during 50 m front crawl swimming with maximal intensity. Two-way repeated measures analyses of variance revealed significant improvement in the best performance in all swimming distances only in the experimental group (3.22% - 7.26%). As far as the basic kinematic characteristics of the stroke are concerned, significant modifications were found only in the mean swimming velocity in the experimental group (2.18%), while no significant changes were observed in the stroke length, the stroke rate, and the duration of the propulsive and non-propulsive phases in both groups. Thus, the findings of the current study revealed a positive effect of the in-water resistance training program in the swimming performance of young female swimmers of moderate performance level, without any negative influence in the basic kinematic characteristics of the stroke.

Physiological and Biomechanical Evaluation of a Training Macrocycle in Children Swimmers

“…However, a similar improvement of 8% has been reported in 100-m performance after a year of training in high level 11- to 12-year-old child swimmers [4]. Other studies have reported a 2% improvement in the 100-m test within a short 5-week period of training in 11-year-old boys and girls [8], and 3% improvement in the same distance following eleven weeks of training period in 13-year-old female swimmers [9].…”

“…Previous research in swimming training including children and young athletes focused mainly on short distance performance relative to changes in anthropometry, hydrodynamic, biomechanical/coordinative or energetic variables (25–100 m) [3,4,7,8,9]. The findings of these studies highlight the importance of the hydrodynamic factors changes (such as active and passive drag relative to training periodization [7]), despite a great intra- and inter-swimmer variation in technical variables [4].…”

“…The findings of these studies highlight the importance of the hydrodynamic factors changes (such as active and passive drag relative to training periodization [7]), despite a great intra- and inter-swimmer variation in technical variables [4]. However, no significant changes were observed in kinematic variables such as stroke rate (SR) and stroke length (SL) despite improvement of 100-m performance in female swimmers following 11 weeks of training [9]. Furthermore, improvement of physiological variables, such as maximum oxygen uptake and lactate concentration (La), was accompanied by improved performance in the 100-m test [8].…”

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis: Biomechanical Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Strength and Conditioning Training Programs on Front Crawl Swimming Performance

“…The oldest study was published in 2006 (Girold et al, 2006) and the most updated studies were published in 2020 (Born et al, 2020;Karpiński et al, 2020). Among 15 articles, 10 articles investigated the effects on FC swimming (Amaro et al, 2017;Aspenes et al, 2009;Garrido et al, 2010b;Girold et al, 2006;Gourgoulis et al, 2019;Morais et al, 2018;Patil et al, 2014;Sadowski et al, 2012), while 4 articles investigated on starts (Bishop et al, 2009;Born et al, 2020;Rebutini et al, 2016;Rejman et al, 2017) and only 1 investigated on swimming, starts and turns performance (Karpiński et al, 2020). The intervention durations were varied, from 3 weeks to 34 weeks, mostly were applied for 6 weeks (Amaro et al, 2017;Born et al, 2020;Karpiński et al, 2020;Patil et al, 2014;Rejman et al, 2017;Sadowski et al, 2012).…”

Examination of Stroke Mechanics and Athletic Performance Components in Swimmers According to Age Categories

“…All of these technical exercises should continue throughout the season and should be continued as a support in order to ensure that the performance does not fall behind between the seasons (Zacca et al, 2019). Resistance and strength exercises that can be applied in the water will have a positive effect on the development of these parameters (Gourgoulis, Valkoumas, Boli, Aggeloussis, & Antoniou, 2019).…”