Fusion of science and practice in high-performance swimming

Background
The scientific support of sports practice opens up new insights that could not be secured in practice in this way. A great need in swimming is a sensitive and valid profile of the athletes in order to tailor the training program taking these results into account. Here, information about the metabolic and neuromuscular status of the athletes is of outstanding importance. On this basis, the German Sport University Cologne (momentum) developed new diagnostic approaches for the German Swimming Federation with the financial support of the Federal Institute for Sport Science as part of several research projects. The aim of this project was to validate the new diagnostic approaches and their successful implementation in the annual diagnostic meetings of the German Swimming Federation.
Research projects - Typification of athletes in swimming
Maximum swimming speed is determined by a complex interplay of metabolic (aerobic and anaerobic capacity) and mechanical (water resistance and propulsion) determinants. However, their significance varies between the disciplines (i.e. short, medium, and long-distance) due to different durations of exertion. In addition, as individual conditions, e.g. metabolic, anthropometric, and neuromuscular characteristics, can differ greatly between athletes, sensitive and specific diagnostic test protocols and parameters are required in order to draw individualised training conclusions based on the athlete profiles. However, current diagnostic approaches are limited in regard of their sensitivity and/or validity to provide adequate results for athletes in high-performance swimming. Therefore, new swimming-specific metabolic and neuromuscular diagnostic procedures were developed by the German Sport University Cologne, as part of several consecutive projects funded by the Federal Institute of Sports Science, comprising a 3-min step test, paced by an LED-light-system and a semi-tethered load-velocity test for whole-body-, arm- and leg-performance to profile the respective performance components (Keller et al., 2022; Keller et al., 2024). Based on the overall research concept and the results, approaches for individualised derivations based on the athlete profiles (typification) will be presented as a best practice model.
Transfer
After the successful validation of the diagnostic approaches, the German Sport University Cologne initiated a transfer project to support the German Swimming Federation and its sports science staff from their diagnostic centers with the implementation in practice. Regular practical application is planned for 2025.