Figure - uploaded by Romuald Lepers
Content may be subject to copyright.
Swimming speeds of freestyle FINA finalists for 50 m (Panel A), 100 m (Panel B) and 200 m (Panel C). Results are presented as mean ± SD.
Source publication
The purpose of the present study was to analyse potential changes in performance of elite breaststroke swimmers competing at national and international level and to compare to elite freestyle swimming performance.
Temporal trends in performance of elite breaststroke swimmers were analysed from records of the Swiss Swimming Federation and the FINA (...
Citations
... This sex-related difference is attributed to the greater height of male swimmers when compared to female swimmers [18]. Elite male swimmers also maintain a higher average velocity than female swimmers across all race distances [14,19,20]. The magnitude of sex-related velocity differences, however, decreases with increase in race distance [19,20]. ...
... Elite male swimmers also maintain a higher average velocity than female swimmers across all race distances [14,19,20]. The magnitude of sex-related velocity differences, however, decreases with increase in race distance [19,20]. This observation has been attributed to a greater swimming efficiency in female swimmers when compared to male swimmers [20]. ...
... The magnitude of sex-related velocity differences, however, decreases with increase in race distance [19,20]. This observation has been attributed to a greater swimming efficiency in female swimmers when compared to male swimmers [20]. Meaningful sex-related differences in SR are yet to be established. ...
Background
Breaststroke is a technically complex stroke characterised by discontinuous propulsive phases, large intracyclic velocity variation and low mean velocity. The performance of this stroke at an elite level is influenced by a number of biomechanical, physiological and psychological factors. The present systematic review aimed to synthesise the biomechanical factors influencing elite breaststroke swimming performance. This review aims to provide elite coaches and performance scientists with a breadth of knowledge from which training and racing interventions can be developed.
Methods
Electronic searches of Medline, Scopus and SPORTDiscus databases were conducted in May 2020 and March 2022. Search results that were peer-reviewed, published in English and published during or after the year 2000 were considered for review. The methodological rigour of studies was assessed using a risk of bias scale previously used for the evaluation of sports science research.
Results
Thirty-eight articles were included in the present review. Articles investigated elite breaststroke performance in relation to one of the following areas: stroke kinematics, temporal patterns, neuromuscular activity, pacing and kinetics.
Discussion
Kinematic, temporal and neuromuscular activity comparisons between groups of various race distance, performance or experience level, and athlete sex were common in the literature. These analyses demonstrated differences in stroke rate, stroke length, propulsive time, recovery time, glide time, sum of total integrated EMG and triceps brachii activation patterns between groups. The evaluation of various pacing strategies, and the relationship between kinetics and breaststroke performance was comparatively rare within the literature. Further research into the relationship between kinetics and breaststroke performance, and the manipulation of pacing strategy would increase the breadth of knowledge from which coaches and performance scientists can develop evidence-based training and racing interventions.
... Apart from distance-limited swimming races, also time-limited swimming events (i.e., 12 h) are performed in pool-swimming [13]. Studies investigated different populations such as elite swimmers competing at national and international level for different strokes and distances, youth and master swimmers [1][2][3]8,[29][30][31]. In pool-swimming, it seemed that the sex difference varied with the distance of the events [29,30,32]. ...
... Studies investigated different populations such as elite swimmers competing at national and international level for different strokes and distances, youth and master swimmers [1][2][3]8,[29][30][31]. In pool-swimming, it seemed that the sex difference varied with the distance of the events [29,30,32]. For elite swimmers competing in different strokes such as freestyle [28], butterfly [31], breaststroke [30] and individual medley [30], the sex difference decreased with increasing race distance. ...
... In pool-swimming, it seemed that the sex difference varied with the distance of the events [29,30,32]. For elite swimmers competing in different strokes such as freestyle [28], butterfly [31], breaststroke [30] and individual medley [30], the sex difference decreased with increasing race distance. In long-distance pool-swimming such as a 12-h-swim, women were able to achieve a similar performance to men. ...
In recent years, the interest of female dominance in long-distance swimming grew where several newspaper articles were published speculating about the female performance and dominance especially in open-water ultra-distance swimming. The aim of this narrative review was to review the scientific literature regarding the difference between the sexes for all swimming strokes (i.e., butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley), different distances (i.e., from sprint to ultra-distances), extreme conditions (i.e., cold water), different ages, and swimming integrated in multi-sports disciplines, such as triathlon, in various age groups and over calendar years. The influence of various physiological, psychological, anthropometrical and biomechanical aspects to potentially explain the female dominance was also discussed. The data bases Scopus and PUBMED were searched by April 2020 for the terms ‘sex – difference – swimming’. Long-distance open-water swimmers and pool swimmers of different ages and performance levels were mainly investigated. In open-water long-distance swimming events of the 'Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming' with the 'Catalina Channel Swim', the 'English Channel Swim' and the 'Manhattan Island Marathon Swim', women were about 0.06 km/h faster than men. In master swimmers (i.e., age groups 25-29 to 90-94 years) competing in the FINA (Fédération Internationale de Natation) World Championships in pool swimming in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, individual medley and in 3000 m open-water swimming, women master swimmers seemed able to achieve a similar performance as men in the oldest age groups (i.e., older than 75-80 years). In boys and girls aged 5-18 years and listed in the all-time top 100 U.S. freestyle swimming performances from 50 m to 1500 m, the five fastest girls were faster until the age of ~10 years than the five fastest boys. After the age of 10 years until the age of 17 years, however, boys were increasingly faster than girls. Therefore, women tended to decrease the existing sex differences in specific age groups (i.e., younger than 10 years and older than 75-80 years) and swimming strokes in pool-swimming or even to overperform men in long-distance open-water swimming (distance of ~30 km), especially under extreme weather conditions (water colder than ~20 °C). Two main variables may explain why women can swim faster than men in open-water swimming events: (i) the long distance of around 30 km, (ii) and water colder than ~20 °C. Future studies might investigate more detailed (e.g. anthropometry) the very young (<10 years) and very old (>75-80 years) age groups in swimming.
Keywords: gender difference; sex gap; swimming performance; swimming stroke; holistic approach
... There are many reasons for the constant progression of results. These include systemic solutions, such as the popularisation of sport among children and youth, conducive to the proper selection for the sport of swimming [24]. Technological progress in areas used in swimming competitions is not without significance [14]. ...
Purpose:
The study aim was determining gender-related differences of underwater undulatory swimming (UUS) kinematic indicators and their impact on UUS velocity.
Methods:
The study included 18 girls (F: age 16.71 ± 0.64 years, FINA points 551 ± 68) and 23 boys (M: age 16.79 ± 0.57 years, FINA points 533 ± 66) training swimming. After marking characteristic anatomical points, subjects performed approximately 7 meters of UUS. A filming device placed behind the underwater window registered the trial. Recordings were analysed using the SkillSpector programme.
Results:
Boys swam faster (F: 1.24 m/s, M: 1.35 m/s), overcame a greater distance during one cycle (F: 0.67 m, M: 0.74 m), performed movements with higher toes amplitude (F: 0.58 m, M: 0.63 m), obtained higher amplitude and frequency product (F: 1.05, M: 1.15) and smaller ankle joint range of motion (F: 64 °, M: 57 °). In both groups, relationships between velocity and: maximal ankle joint extension, distance covered during one cycle and backward toes shift during downward movement were found. The results were statistically significant ( p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Girls and boys differed in kinematic indicator level, but UUS velocity depends on identical kinematic variables, meaning UUS technical training can be performed without gender-division.
... In the next years (1992−2012), a substantial improvement in the results (with the exception of certain events with insignificant stagnation in women's swimming: 100m breaststroke 1992, 100m butterfly 1996, 2004, 100 m backstroke 1996 and certain men's swimming results: 100m butterfly 1992, www.balticsportscience.com 100m backstroke 1996) was observed. The improvement in the results in 1992-2004, not as dynamic as in previous years, can be attributed to the advances in swimming pool construction and swimming regulations (swimming pool depth, using ropes that reduce waves, angling the starting blocks towards the swimming pool, temperature, materials available for production of swimming suits) [1,23,24,25]. No substantial and dynamic progress in the results in this period can be attributed to more frequent and accurate anti-doping tests. ...
... Rejdych W, Filip A, Karpiński J, Krawczyk M, Jarosz J, Socha T, Maszczyk A. Sports performance in swimmming − Time Series based on Artificial Neural Networks Balt J Health Phys Act. 2018;10(2):[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] ...
... To exclude individual swimmers' features of power production, experience and ability to shape breaststroke cycles, we computed partial correlations controlled for age between V 50 surface breast and: 1) propulsion and non-propulsion phases of breaststroke cycle; 2) basic stroke kinematics; 3) accelerations multiplied by Sr; and 4) angular rotation velocity multiplied by Sr. additionally, we computed linear correlations between accelerations in breaststroke swimming cycle and coordination indexes as well as basic stroke kinematics. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) estimations for collected kinematics data were conducted with reliability of measurements -icc (3,1) : 0.9955; 95% lower; upper ci: 0.9820 and 0.9989, respectively. all tests were computed using STaTiSTica ver. 10 software (StatSoft, Inc., Tulsa, OK, USA). ...
Background:
This work is aimed at examining how coordination and kinematic indices interplay with swimming performance measured by average speed in 50m all-out test.
Methods:
The group of 34 male competitive swimmers (19.1± 1.91 years old) participated in the study. The underwater movements of swimmers' bodies were recorded providing side- shots. Accelerations and angular velocity of pitch rotation of swimmer's sacrum were measured with inertial sensor device (three-axial accelerometer and gyroscope).
Results:
Indices calculated on the basis of video analysis as well as their relationship with speed - V50surface breast clearly show, that stroke rate (SR) kinematic and ample arm propulsion (AP) duration impulse are both highly associated with performance. At the same time V50surface breast is highly related to significant shortening inter-cycle gap - Glide or Overlap. The study shows, that sagittal maximal ventral acceleration (Azmax) and sagittal amplitude acceleration (Azamp) significantly interplay with V50surface breast (0.54, p<0.01 and 0.45, p=0.01 respectively), which is connected with dolphin-like body waving.
Conclusions:
The most important thing is to recognize possible gains coming from suitably shaped dolphin-like body waving, as well as to enhance this specific action during well-timed upper trunk and head immersion in each sprint breaststroke cycle.
... Although the age of peak swimming performance is important to plan an athletic career for elite swimmers, the knowledge of sex differences in swimming performance is also of high interest. Several authors showed that the sex difference in swimming performance decreased with increasing race distance for freestyle Tanaka andSeals 1997), individual medley (Buhl et al. 2013a), breaststroke (Wolfrum et al. 2013(Wolfrum et al. , 2014 and butterfly (Zingg et al. 2014a, b). Most of these studies investigated rather shorter time periods of 5-11 years Tanaka and Seals 1997;Wolfrum et al. 2013;Zingg et al. 2014a). ...
Participation and performance trends in age group athletes have been investigated for different sport disciplines, but not for master swimmers. The knowledge on this topic is still missing for a particular stroke such as backstroke. Changes in participation and performance of male and female age group backstroke swimmers (≥25 years) competing in 50, 100 and 200 m pool swimming at the FINA World Masters Championships held between 1986 and 2014 were investigated using mixed-effects regression analyses. The overall participation was n = 26,217 including n = 13,708 women and n = 12,509 men. In 50 m, female (age groups 85–89 years; p = 0.002) and male participation (age groups 55–59; p = 0.030 and 80–84 years; p = 0.002) increased, while female participation decreased in age groups 55–59 (p = 0.010) and 60–64 years (p = 0.050). In 100 and 200 m, participation increased in age groups 45–49, 50–54, 65–69, 70–74, 80–84 years. Swimmers in age groups 25–29 to 95–99 years improved performance over all distances. Women were slower than men in age groups 25–29 to 80–84 years, but not in age groups 85–89 to 95–99 years over all distances. In 50 m and 100 m, the sex difference decreased in age groups 40–44 (p = 0.007 and p = 0.005), 45–49 (p = 0.017 and p = 0.034), 50–54 (p = 0.002 and p = 0.040), to 55–59 years (p = 0.002 and p = 0.004). In 200 m, the sex difference decreased in age groups 40–44 (p = 0.044) and 90–94 (p = 0.011), but increased in age group 25–29 years (p = 0.006). In summary, in age group backstroke swimmers, (1) participation increased or remained unchanged (except women in age groups 55–59 and 60–64 years in 50 m), (2) swimming performance improved in all age groups from 25–29 to 95–99 years over all distances, (3) men were faster than women in age groups 25–29 to 80–84 years (except age groups 85–89 to 95–99 years) over time and all distances.
... Sex differences are lower in swimming compared to running [5]. In elite pool swimmers competing in breaststroke, backstroke, medley and freestyle up to 1500 m, women reduced the gap to men with increasing race distance [6][7][8][9][10]. In long-distance open-water swimming from 5 to 25 km, women reduced the gap to men in 10 km, but not in 25 km [3]. ...
Ice swimming for 1 mile and 1 km is a new discipline in open-water swimming since 2009. This study examined female and male performances in swimming 1 mile ('Ice Mile') and 1 km ('1 km Ice event') in water of 5 °C or colder between 2009 and 2015 with the hypothesis that women would be faster than men.
Between 2009 and 2015, 113 men and 38 women completed one 'Ice Mile' and 26 men and 13 completed one '1 km Ice event' in water colder than +5 °C following the rules of International Ice Swimming Association (IISA). Differences in performance between women and men were determined. Sex difference (%) was calculated using the equation ([time for women] - [time for men]/[time for men] × 100). For 'Ice Mile', a mixed-effects regression model with interaction analyses was used to investigate the influence of sex and environmental conditions on swimming speed. The association between water temperature and swimming speed was assessed using Pearson correlation analyses.
For 'Ice Mile' and '1 km Ice event', the best men were faster than the best women. In 'Ice Mile', calendar year, number of attempts, water temperature and wind chill showed no association with swimming speed for both women and men. For both women and men, water temperature was not correlated to swimming speed in both 'Ice Mile' and '1 km Ice event'.
In water colder than 5 °C, men were faster than women in 'Ice Mile' and '1 km Ice event'. Water temperature showed no correlation to swimming speed.
... Swimming events are generally held in pools [1][2][3][4]. In recent years, the popularity of open-water ultra-distance swimming increased considerably [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. ...
Background
The aim of the present study was to investigate participation and performance trends regarding the nationality of successful solo swimmers in the ‘English Channel Swim’.
Methods
The nationality and swim times for all swimmers who successfully crossed the 33.8-km ‘English Channel’ from 1875 to 2013 were analysed.
Results
Between 1875 and 2013, the number of successful female (571, 31.4%) and male (1,246, 68.6%) solo swimmers increased exponentially; especially for female British and American swimmers and male British, US-American and Australian swimmers. Most of the swimmers were crossing the ‘English Channel’ from England to France and most of the competitors were from Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and Ireland. For women, athletes from the United States of America, Australia and Great Britain achieved the fastest swim times. For men, the fastest swim times were achieved by athletes from the United States of America, Great Britain and Australia. Swim times of the annual fastest women from Great Britain and the United States of America decreased across years. For men, swim times decreased across years in the annual fastest swimmers from Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa and the United States of America. Men were swimming faster from England to France than from France to England compared to women. Swim times became faster across years for both women and men for both directions.
Conclusions
Between 1875 and 2013, the most representative nations in the ‘English Channel Swim’ were Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and Ireland. The fastest swim times were achieved by athletes from the United States of America, Australia and Great Britain.
In order to optimize the swimming athletes’ turning technology and improve the athlete’s swimming performance, this paper analyzes the data collected with the help of computer technology, aiming to make coaches better guide the athletes to master essentials of turning technique. Based on the existing research results, this paper summarizes the kinematic parameters of the research object, and conducts reliability analysis of the kinematic parameters. Then with the time of turning 15 m as the core of the kinematic parameters, this paper explores the influence of kinematic parameters, such as the distance from the pool wall before turning, speed before and after turning and rollover time in the swimming process on the time of turning 15 m, and then sums up the key influencing factors of turning technique. Lastly, according to the related kinematic parameters, it puts forward some suggestions on the optimization of the swimming turning technique.
Men outperform women in sports requiring muscular strength and/or endurance, but the relative influence of "nurture" versus "nature" remains difficult to quantify. Performance gaps between elite men and women are well-documented using world records in second, centimeter or kilogram sports. However, this approach is biased by global disparity in reward structures and opportunities for women. Despite policies enhancing female participation (Title IX legislation), USA women only closed performance gaps by 2 and 5% in Olympic Trial swimming and running, respectively, from 1972 to 1980 (with no change thereafter through 2016). Performance gaps of 13% in elite mid-distance running and 8% in swimming (~4 min duration) remain, the 5% differential between sports indicative of load carriage disadvantages of higher female body fatness in running. Conversely, sprint swimming exhibits a greater sex difference than sprint running suggesting anthropometric/power advantages unique to swim block starts. The ~40 y plateau in the performance gap suggests a persistent dominance of biological influences (e.g., longer limb levers, greater muscle mass, aerobic capacity, lower fat mass) on performance. Current evidence suggests women will not swim or run as fast as men in Olympic events, which speaks against eliminating sex segregation in these individual sports. Whether hormone reassignment sufficiently levels the playing field in Olympic sports for transgender females (born and socialized male) remains an issue to be tackled by sport governing bodies.
