Biophysical Evaluation of Age-Group Swimmers During a Training Season

Abstract

Understanding more about competitive swimmers and their athletic potential requires organized, systematic and consistent evaluation. The evaluation and training control of swimmers give the coach valuable information about an athlete's improvement, stagnation, or deterioration in training and competitive performance. Assessments addressing both biological and physical aspects are usually called biophysical studies. This type of integrated approach allows a deeper understanding of the determinant variables in swimming and how they combine to enhance performance. However, few biophysical studies have been conducted on age-group swimmers, and almost all of them have been crosssectional rather than longitudinal in design. Although cross-sectional analysis is relevant, it is not sufficient to fully describe time-course and factors influencing progression over a training period. The aim of this Thesis was to quantify change in and relationships between energetics, technique and anthropometrics characteristics in age-group swimmers during a training traditional periodization design. For that aim, we developed and validated methodological tools and protocols. Useful tools have been developed for the sports/research community, highlighting the importance of a biophysical approach to evaluate swimming performance through longitudinal studies. We validated the 400-m test (T400) against the gold standard 7 x 200-m incremental intermittent protocol, comparing physiological and biomechanical characteristics in national level age-group swimmers. We also paved the way towards a straightforward analysis of oxygen uptake (V̇ O2) kinetics in exercise by developing a freely available and open-source software, which eases the V̇ O2 kinetics analysis in exercise, and can be applied for research and performance diagnostics in elite, sub-elite or recreational athletes. We then performed three longitudinal experiments. In the first longitudinal study, physiological and biomechanical effects of a typical off-season period were quantified in age-group swimmers, controlling growth and non-swimming specific physical activities performed during this training cessation period. In the second study, we quantified changes and contributions of energetic, technique and anthropometric profiles across the first training macrocycle (16-week) in a traditional three-peak swimming season. Finaly, we identified changes in energetics, technique and anthropometric profile while following age-group swimmers over a training season trough a traditional three-peak preparation program. We are confident that these methodological and longitudinal studies provide relevant tools and cientific contribution to the sports and scientific community, helping to better understand the relationships between performance-related domains.