Relation of 25-meter Swimming Performance with Physical Properties and Isokinetic Knee Strength in Amateur Young Swimmers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical properties, isokinetic knee strength and swimming performance in young amateur athletes. Seventeen 18- 24 year old amateur swimmers (n=13 males, mean age=20.0 ± 2.1 years; n=4 females, mean age=21.5 ± 1.7 years) volunteered to participate in this study. All athletes were member of the same team who were engaged to the swim training at least for 4 years. Following the 5-min warm up session, each participant performed three submaximal trials for familiarization and warm-up purposes, and then five maximal trials at three angular velocities: 60, 120, and 180ᵒ/s. A 30-s time interval was provided between familiarization and test session, whereas a 2-min rest period was given between each test velocity. A 25-m swimming performance was recorded in semi-olympic swimming pool, under race conditions. The results demonstrated that there was a statistically significant inverse relationship between height, body mass, BMI, and swimming performance (p<0.05 and 0.01), also, there was a significant inverse relationship between isokinetic knee strength and swimming performance (p<0.01). However, there is no significant differences between H/Q ratio and 25-m swimming performance (p>0.05). In conclusion, the lower limb muscle strength is as important as upper limb muscle strength and a combination of lower limb muscle strength and anthropometric variables are important for sprint swimming performance. 

Keywords

• Swimming,amateur athletes,isokinetic strength,performance

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