Energy cost of front-crawl swimming in women

Summary

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the energy cost of swimming per unit distance (C_S) at different velocities (ν) and performance level, body size and swimming technique in women. A total of 58 females swimmers were studied. Three performance levels (A, B, C) were determined, ranging from the slower (A) to the faster (B, C). At level C and at 1.1 m·s⁻¹, C_s,1.1 was reduced by 7% when directly compared to level B. The C_s,1.1 was reduced by 10% when calculated per unit of height (h) and by 37% when calculated per unit ofh and hydrostatic lift (HL). For the whole group of swimmers, the equation regression was C_{s, 1.1} = 0.27h −2.38 HL−7.5 (r=0.53,P<0.01). To evaluate the specific influence of arm length two groups of long- and short-armed swimmers were selected among swimmers of similarh and performance. The C_s was significantly higher (P<0.05) by 12%, SD 2.2%, for short-armed than for long-armed swimmers. To evaluate the influence of different types of swimming technique, two other groups of similar performance and anthropometric characteristics were selected. The C_s was significantly higher (P<0.05) by 12%, SD 4.5% for swimmers using for preference their legs rather than their arms. The C_s of the sprinters was 15.7%, SD 2% higher than that of the long-distance swimmers. For all groups, CS increased withv on average by 8% to 11% every 0.1 m · s⁻¹. These findings showed that C_s variations of these women were close to those previously demonstrated for men. The C_s depends on performance level, body size, buoyancy, swimming technique and ν.