The aim of this exploratory study was to identify the most influential training designs during the final six weeks of training (F6T) before a major swimming event, taking into account athletes' evolution over several seasons. Fifteen female and 17 male elite swimmers were followed for one to nine F6T periods. The F6T was divided into two sub-periods of a three-week overload period (OP) and a th...

Swimming is often recommended as a sport because of its several benefits to health. It is also recommended in asthmatic children as a sport with a lower potential for prompting exercise-induced asthma. However, there is growing interest in the potentially harmful effects of repeated respiratory tract exposure to chlorinated products and the problem of possible swimming-related health hazards is...

Pacing strategies have been investigated for elite-standard freestyle swimmers, but little is known about pacing in age-group freestyle swimmers. We investigated changes in swimming time across distances in 4,481 women and men swimmers who competed in 100, 200, 400, and 800 m freestyle age groups from 25-29 years to 90-94 years in the FINA World Masters Championships 2014. In 100 to 800 m, ther...

Four 50 meter male/female finals - the freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke - swum during individual events at the Swimming World Championships (SWCs) can be defined in four clusters. The aim of the present study was to use a single-unit design structure, in which the swimmer was defined at only one scale, to evaluate gender differences in start reaction times among elite swimmers...

Elite athletes who compete in aquatic sports face the constant challenge of arduous training and competition schedules in difficult and changing environmental conditions. The huge range of water temperatures to which swimmers and other aquatic athletes are often exposed (16-31 °C for open-water swimming), coupled with altered aquatic thermoregulatory responses as compared with terrestrial athle...