Adaptations to Swimming Training in Athletes with Down’s Syndrome

José María González-Ravé, Anthony P. Turner and Shaun M. Phillips
Additional contact information
José María González-Ravé: Sports Training Laboratory, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Castilla La Mancha, 45008 Toledo, Spain
Anthony P. Turner: Sport, Physical Education & Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK
Shaun M. Phillips: Sport, Physical Education & Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: Swimming training programs may help to limit declines in cardiovascular conditioning, muscle strength, mobility and social functioning in individuals with Down’s Syndrome (DS): (1) Background: This study aims to analyze the effects of a periodized swimming training program on swimming speed, lower body force and power and body composition in a group of swimmers with DS; (2) Methods: Nine swimmers with DS (2 men and 7 women; aged 21–30 years-old) completed an 18-week periodized swimming program. The swimmers were assessed, pre and post-training, for 25 m, 50 m and 100 m freestyle swim performance, countermovement jump performance and body composition; (3) Results: Significant and large improvements in 25 m (mean −6.39%, p < 0.05, d = 1.51), 50 m (mean −4.95%, p < 0.01, d = 2.08) and 100 m (mean −3.08%, p < 0.05, d = 1.44) freestyle performance were observed following training, with no significant changes in body composition or consistent changes in jump performance (although a large mean 14.6% decrease in relative peak force, p < 0.05, d = 1.23) (4) Conclusions: A periodized 18-week training intervention may improve swimming performance in a small group of trained swimmers with DS, with less clear changes in jump performance or body composition. This program provides a training profile for coaches working with swimmers with DS and a platform for further research into the benefits of swimming training with this under-represented population.

Keywords: intellectual disabilities; strength; adapted sport; periodization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9175/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/24/9175/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:24:p:9175-:d:458776

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().