Kinematical Profiling of the Front Crawl Start

Abstract

This study analysed the start phases of 15 elite front crawl swimmers, all specialists of sprint events. The first aim was to determine which phases were correlated with the 15-m start time. The features common to the sample of swimmers were then established and individual profiles were clustered. The subjects performed two 25-m trials at the 50-m race-pace using their preferential start technique (grab start). The kinematical analysis assessed the durations of the block, flight, entry, glide, leg kicking and full swimming phases to the 15-m mark. Stroking parameters and the index of arm coordination (IdC) were analysed for the swimming part (10-20 m) of the 25-m. Through the swimming part IdC increased while stroke length and velocity decreased (p<0.05). The relative durations of the aerial (block, flight), entry and underwater phases were correlated with start time. Inter-subject variability was observed, which suggests that various motor solutions were used for the start. Notably, four clusters led to a short 15-m start time: the leg kicking style, mixed "leg kicking/swimming" style, long glide style and short glide style.

Effects of different swimming race constraints on turning movements

“…Interestingly, they also obtained faster underwater turn velocities in all events except breaststroke, even though it has been previously explained that this parameter is only important for the start performance (Burkett, Mellifont, & Mason, 2010;Cossor & Mason, 2001;Vantorre, Seifert, Fernandes, Vilas Boas, & Chollet, 2010a). Finally, they showed the ability to stabilize some of the turn parameters throughout the race compared to the lower expertise swimmers (Tables 2 and 3).…”

Start and turn performances of elite sprinters at the 2016 European Championships in swimming

“…All distances were calibrated based on the pool's marks (e.g., the 5-m and 15-m marks of the swim lanes). The parameters selected are often reported in the literature (e.g., Hubert, Silveira, Freitas, Pereira, & Roesler, 2006;Ruschel, Araùjo, Pereira, & Roesler, 2007;Vantorre et al, 2010).…”

“…Hence, the start and the turn combined account to a total of 31-32% of the time (i.e., nearly one third of a 100-m race time). Studies reported the parameters that swimmers should consider to enhance their on-block (Fischer & Kibele, 2016;Tor et al, 2015;Vantorre et al, 2010) and in-water back start (de Jesus et al, 2013;Takeda, Itoi, Takagi, & Tsubakimoto, 2014). The time at the 15-m mark (main outcome) depends significantly from the takeoff velocity, entry angle, underwater time and distance (Fischer & Kibele, 2016;Vantorre, Chollet, & Seifert, 2014).…”

“…Overall, researchers had a strong interest on the swim stroke, disregarding the acyclic phases of the race (i.e., the start and the turn). Albeit, studies can be found about such topic (e.g., Pereira et al, 2015;Vantorre, Seifert, Fernandes, Vilas-Boas, & Chollet, 2010;Veiga, Roig, & Gómez-Ruano, 2016). However, there is no evidence about how elite swimmers behave in major competitions in all four strokes.…”

“…Studies have pointed out the key-determinants of the start (Arellano, García, Gavilán, & Pardillo, 1996;Blanksby, Nicholson, & Elliott, 2002;Tor, Pease, & Ball, 2015;Vantorre et al, 2010) and turn (Lyttle, Blanksby, Elliott, & Lloyd, 1999;. The split time at the 15-m mark is significantly associated to the start performance ).…”