Three-dimensional analysis of intracycle velocity fluctuations in frontcrawl swimming

Stelios Psycharakis, Roozbeh Naemi, Chris Connaboy, Carla McCabe, Ross Sanders

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)
258 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine accurately the magnitude and changes of intra-cycle velocity fluctuation (Vfluc), maximum (Vmax) and minimum velocity (Vmin) of the center of mass during a maximum 200m frontcrawl swim, and to examine whether they are associated with performance. Performance was indicated by the mean velocity (Vmean) of the stroke cycle (SC) in the swimming direction. The relative Vfluc, Vmax and Vmin were also calculated as a percentage of Vmean, while Vfluc was calculated for all three directions. Eleven male swimmers of national/international level participated in this study and their performance was recorded with four below- and two above-water-synchronized cameras. Four SCs were analyzed for the 200m swim (one for each 50m). Anthropometric data were calculated by the elliptical zone method. Vmean generally decreased throughout the test. Vmax and Vmin were positively correlated to performance and were significantly higher in SC1 than in the other SCs. However, the relative Vmax and Vmin values were remarkably consistent during the 200m and not associated with performance. Despite the noteworthy magnitude of Vfluc in all directions, they were in general not correlated with performance and there were no significant changes during the test.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)128-135
JournalScandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports
Volume20
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Feb 2010

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