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

Year 2017, Volume 5 - Issue 2, 68 - 75, 30.06.2017

Bircan Dokumacı Cihan Aygün , Hayriye Çakır Atabek

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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