Kinematic measures and stroke rate variability in elite female 200-m swimmers in the four swimming techniques: Athens 2004 Olympic semi-finalists and French National 2004 Championship semi-finalists

The aim of this study was to assess stroke rate variability in elite female swimmers (200-m events, all four techniques) by comparing the semi-finalists at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (n = 64) and semi-finalists at the French National 2004 Championship (n = 64). Since swimming speed (V) is the product of stroke rate (SR) and stroke length (SL), these three variables and the coefficient of variation of stroke rate (CV_SR) of the first and second 100 m were determined (V1, V2; SR1, SR2; SL1, SL2; CV_SR1, CV_SR2) and differences between the two parts of the events were calculated (ΔV; ΔSR; ΔSL; ΔCV_SR). When the results for the four 200-m events were analysed together, SR1, SR2, SL1, and SL2 were higher (α = 0.05, P < 0.001) and ΔV, ΔSR, and ΔCV_SR were lower (P < 0.01) in the Olympic group than in the National group. The Olympic-standard swimmers exhibited faster backstrokes and longer freestyle strokes (P < 0.05). Both CV_SR1 and CV_SR2 were lower for freestyle and backstroke races in the Olympic group than in the National group (P < 0.001). Our results suggest that stroke rate variability is dependent on an interaction between the biomechanical requisites of the task (techniques) and the standard of the swimmer.

Keywords

• Performance,
• swimming,
• variability,
• dynamic systems,
• stroking characteristics