Tracking the performance, energetics and biomechanics of international versus national level swimmers during a competitive season

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to track and compare the changes of performance, energetic and biomechanical profiles of international (Int) and national (Nat) level swimmers during a season. Ten Portuguese male swimmers (four Int and six Nat level subjects) were evaluated on three different time periods (TP(1), TP(2), TP(3)) of the 2009-2010 season. Swimming performance was assessed based on official time's lists of the 200-m freestyle event. An incremental set of 7 × 200 m swims was applied to assess the energetic and biomechanical data. Measurements were made of: (1) velocity at the 4 mmol of lactate levels (V4), stroke index at V4 (SI@V4) and propelling efficiency at V4 (η (p)@V4), as energetic estimators; (2) stroke length at V4 (SL@V4) and stroke frequency at V4 (SF@V4), as biomechanical variables. The results demonstrated no significant variations in all variables throughout the season. The inter-group comparison pointed out higher values for Int swimmers, with statistical differences for the 200 m performance in all time periods. Near values of the statistical significance were demonstrated for the SI@V4 in TP(1) and TP(3). The tracking based on K values was high only for the SI@V4. It is concluded that a high stability can be observed for elite swimmers performance, energetic and biomechanical profiles throughout a single season. Int swimmers are able to maintain a higher energetic and biomechanical capacity than Nat ones at all times. The SI@V4 may be used as an indicator of performance variation.

Comparison of age of peak swimming speed in elite backstroke swimmers at national and international level

“…Men have a higher peak leg power compared to women [42][43][44][45][46] mainly due to their higher lean leg volume 42,44,46 . Seifert stability in performances with energetic and biomechanical capacities continuously 49 . Another finding was that the sex difference of national swimmers became greater across the years for 100-m backstroke and all freestyle distances with no changes in international level.…”

Changes in breaststroke swimming performances in national and international athletes competing between 1994 and 2011 –a comparison with freestyle swimming performances

“…national versus international level) [35]. Additionally, international swimmers are able to maintain a higher energetic and biomechanical capacity than national swimmers [15] and high-speed swimmers have a higher and more stable stroke length and index of coordination than low-speed swimmers [36]. …”

“…Little data is known for changes in freestyle swimming performance across years for swimmers competing at national level [11] and no data exist for changes in swimming performance over time for other strokes such as breaststroke [14]. Differences in performance between athletes competing at international and national level are related to differences in the energetic and biomechanical profiles of these athletes [15-18]. Considering breaststroke, Seifert et al [19] reported differences in the elbow-knee continuous relative phase in breaststroke swimmers of different performance levels.…”

Optimization of the Effort Preparation Process Among the Short Track Female Competitors in a Year Cycle

“…On the one hand, the lower body mass in relation to active mass is conductive to train for speed and endurance, which is typical in short track (Hoffman et al 2009;Nemoto et al 1990). On the other hand, during such a training, the economy of energy reserve usage is being increased which constitute a competitor's protection from a sudden decrease of physical effort ability (Buglione et al 2011;Costa et al 2012;Szymański et al 2010). According to Bomp and Haff (2010) the basic factor determining high effort adaptation during endurance sports like short track, is not training volume, but adequate diversity of trainings and various intensity ranges.…”