Swimming biomechanics: from the pool to the lab … and back

ABSTRACT

The swimming pool experience is a fertile ground to challenge current knowledge and catalyse research into factors governing swimming performance that may inform individualised swimming training. This paper discusses the perspective and contributions of a swimming scientist, analyst, and coach on the main current trends of scientific and technological developments, allowing a deeper knowledge about determining factors of swimming performance, its evaluation difficulties, and utility for coaching daily tasks. After equating the complexity of an integrative approach to ‘swimming performance’, five main topics were selected: (i) the swimming economy and energy profile characteristics of each swimmer and swimming technique; (ii) the associated intra-cycle velocity variation profile; (iii) the propulsive force generation capacity; (iv) the drag force imposed on the swimmer; and (v) the internal load characterisation, opening perspectives for understanding the muscle activity pattern. It was concluded that, all together, scientific developments in these domains have allowed for an almost complete picture of the complex network of factors that explain swimming performance (velocity to cover a given distance, which can be further decomposed into a specific combination of stroke length and frequency), favouring the objectivity of diagnosing strengths and weaknesses of an individual profile.

KEYWORDS:

• Swimming economy
• intra-cycle velocity variations
• propulsive force
• drag
• inverse dynamics and internal load assessment

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to all of his students and colleagues with whom he had the pleasure and honour of working, as well as to all of the swimmers he has coached, evaluated, and advised.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.