Do swimmers conform to criterion speed during pace-controlled swimming in a 25 m pool using a visual light pacer?

Tomohiro Gonjo, Carla McCabe, Simon Coleman, Susanna Soares, Fernandes Ricardo, Joao Vilas-Boas, Ross Sanders

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether swimmers follow accurately the instructed speed (vtarget) with the aid of a commercial visual light pacer during front crawl and backstroke swimming in a 25 m pool. Ten male swimmers performed 50 m front crawl and backstroke at different speeds (controlled by a visual light pacer) in a 25 m pool. The mean speed during the 50 m swimming (vS) was quantified from the time measured by a stopwatch. The mean speed of the centre of mass during a stroke cycle in the middle of the pool (vCOM) was calculated from three-dimensional coordinates obtained from Direct Linear Transformation of two-dimensional digitised coordinates of 19 segment endpoints for each of six cameras. Swimmers achieved accurate vS in front crawl and backstroke (ICC = 0.972 and 0.978, respectively). However, vCOM for the single mid-pool sample had lower correlations with vtarget (ICC = 0.781 and 0.681, respectively). In backstroke, vCOM was slower by 4.1–5.1% than vtarget. However, this was not the case in front crawl (1.0-2.7%). With the use of a visual light pacer, swimmers can achieve accurate mean speed overall but are less able to achieve the target speed stroke by stroke.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalSport Biomechanics
Early online date20 Mar 2019
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Mar 2019

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • swimming
  • pacing
  • backstroke
  • front crawl
  • visual light pacer

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