Quantification of swimmers’ ability to apply force in the water: the potential role of two new variables during tethered swimming

ABSTRACT

This study aimed 1) to examine variables that may quantify the ability to apply force in the water and 2) to test their relationship with free swimming performance. Sixteen regional-level swimmers participated in this study. Average (F_avg) and maximum (F_max) forces were measured for 30 s arm stroke tethered swimming in a flume at zero and 1.389 m/s water flow speeds. The maximum and average force’s relative changes (ΔF_max and ΔF_avg, respectively) were calculated between tethered swimming at zero and 1.389 m/s water flow speeds. Free swimming speeds were obtained from 25, 50, and 100 m front crawl trials, and were correlated with ΔF_max and ΔF_avg. A negative correlation was found between ΔF_max and 25, 50 and 100 m speeds (r =  -0.84, r = -0.74, r = -0.55; p < 0.05, respectively) and ΔF_avg correlated negatively with 25 and 50 m speeds (r = -0.63, r = -0.54; p < 0.05, respectively), but it did not correlate with 100 m swimming speed. The relative change in force could be used to quantify the ability to apply force in the water. This could aid coaches to understand if changes in swimmers’ ability to apply force in the water contribute to improvements in performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Flume
• performance testing
• sprint
• strength assessment
• training

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by grants awarded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spanish Agency of Research) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); DEP2014-59707-P “SWIM: Specific Water Innovative Measurements applied to the development of International Swimmers in Short Swimming Events (50 and 100 m), by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Spanish Agency of Research) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); PGC2018-102116-B-I00 “SWIM II: Specific Water Innovative Measurements: Applied to the performance improvement” and the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport: FPU17/02761 grant. This article is a part of an international thesis belonging to the Program of PhD in Biomedicine (B11.56.1), from the University of Granada, Granada (Spain).