Average swimming speeds for 6 sections of the 50-meter backstroke race: Comparison of performance in zones swum underwater or at the surface in 12 international short course events

Luc Collard

International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 2007, vol. 7, issue 3, 37-45

Abstract: We measured the speed of 12 international-level swimmers (6♀ and 6♀) for 6 sections of the 50m backstroke race in a short course (25m) pool (0-5m; 5-15m; 15-25m; 25-30m; 30-40m; 40-50m) by breaking down the races using video analysis. Our assessment revealed that swimmers went faster when underwater (independently of the benefit obtained by pushing off the pool wall in the 0-5m and 25-30m zones) than when they swam at the surface. These results were supported by the per-zone speed ranking established by the vast majority of 151 sports students acting as observers. The latter viewed each race 3 times, in order to divide up the race into the 6 zones using frame-by-frame images (with an index of agreement of more than 76%, according to Pareto’s criterion). Only the per-zone speed rankings for the 3 slowest female swimmers deviated from the majority ranking (using Kendall’s L statistic), as the result of a shorter underwater segment during the 2nd length.Despite being considered (by the sport’s rules and in scientific terms) as a subsidiary and disruptive element of propulsion, underwater dolphin kicks are responsible for the highest speeds in this type of event.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1080/24748668.2007.11868408

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