Ruiz-Navarro Jesús J, Santos Catarina C, Born Dennis-Peter, López-Belmonte Óscar, Cuenca-Fernández Francisco, Sanders Ross H, Arellano Raúl
Aquatics Lab, Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Department of Sport Sciences, Higher Institute of Educational Sciences of the Douro (ISCE-Douro), Penafiel, Portugal.
Sports Med. 2025 Apr;55(4):899-922. doi: 10.1007/s40279-024-02172-4. Epub 2025 Jan 22.
Swimming performance depends on a wide variety of factors; however, the interaction between these factors and their importance varies between events. In sprint events, the characterized pacing underlines its specific development, as swimmers must achieve the highest possible speed while sustaining it to the greatest extent possible.
The aim of this review was to identify the key factors underlying sprint swimming performance and to provide in-depth and practical evidence-based information to optimize performance.
The review protocol was not registered. PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases were searched up to October 31, 2023. Studies involving competitive swimmers and investigating sprint swimming performance were included, while studies conducted with young or masters' swimmers, triathletes or waterpolo players or not investigating sprint swimming performance were excluded. The Downs and Black Quality Assessment Checklist was performed on the included articles to assess the methodological quality.
After applying the PICOS framework, 39 of the 1330 articles initially identified were included according to the PRISMA guidelines. The included records focused mainly on dry-land strength and in-water forces of both upper and lower limbs. A wide range of kinematic variables were also examined, together with the importance of anthropometric and various physiological parameters.
This review highlights the importance of developing muscular strength and effectively transferring it to performance in the water. The evidence suggests that muscular development should prioritize enhancing velocity and effective displacement, rather than merely increasing force and performance in loaded tests. However, further research is needed to confirm this. While in-water forces have been well studied, there is a notable lack of analysis regarding drag. The optimal balance between stroke rate and stroke length should be determined individually, with a primary focus on achieving a high stroke length from a high stroke rate. Although anthropometry may play an important role in performance, the interaction of these traits appears to be complex, suggesting that other factors may be more important in determining performance outcomes. From a physiological perspective, the results indicate that the lactate peak and rate of accumulation should be thoroughly developed. Notwithstanding, this review shows the lack of a solid body of knowledge on the importance of anaerobic and especially aerobic factors. Finally, the absence of a list of potential confounders, together with the lack of high-quality studies involving elite swimmers (level 1 and 2), complicates the interpretation of the results.
游泳成绩取决于多种因素；然而，这些因素之间的相互作用及其重要性在不同项目中有所不同。在短距离项目中，特定的节奏是其发展的特点，因为游泳运动员必须在尽可能保持最高速度的同时达到最高速度。
本综述的目的是确定短距离游泳成绩的关键因素，并提供深入且基于实际证据的信息以优化成绩。
本综述方案未注册。截至2023年10月31日，检索了PubMed、科学网和Scopus数据库。纳入涉及竞技游泳运动员并研究短距离游泳成绩的研究，排除针对青少年或成年游泳运动员、铁人三项运动员或水球运动员开展的研究，以及未研究短距离游泳成绩的研究。对纳入的文章进行唐斯和布莱克质量评估清单分析，以评估方法学质量。
应用PICOS框架后，根据PRISMA指南，最初识别的1330篇文章中有39篇被纳入。纳入的记录主要关注陆上力量以及上肢和下肢的水中力量。还研究了广泛的运动学变量，以及人体测量学和各种生理参数的重要性。
本综述强调了发展肌肉力量并将其有效转化为水中成绩的重要性。证据表明，肌肉发展应优先提高速度和有效位移，而不仅仅是在负重测试中增加力量和成绩。然而，需要进一步研究来证实这一点。虽然水中力量已得到充分研究，但对阻力的分析明显不足。划频和划幅之间的最佳平衡应因人而异确定，主要重点是从高划频实现高划幅。虽然人体测量学可能在成绩中起重要作用，但这些特征之间的相互作用似乎很复杂，这表明其他因素在决定成绩结果方面可能更重要。从生理学角度来看，结果表明应充分发展乳酸峰值和积累速率。尽管如此，本综述表明关于无氧因素尤其是有氧因素的重要性缺乏坚实的知识体系。最后，缺乏潜在混杂因素列表，以及缺乏涉及精英游泳运动员（1级和2级）的高质量研究，使结果的解释变得复杂。
