Specific and Holistic Predictors of Sprint Front Crawl Swimming Performance

The aim of the study was to examine the impact of selected water- and dry-land predictors of 50-m front crawl performance among 27 male swimmers aged 19.3 ± 2.67 years. The following water tests were performed: front crawl tethered arm stroking in a water flume (flow velocity: 0.9 m·s^-1) and leg tethered flutter kicking in a swimming pool. Anaerobic tests on dry land included arm cranking and a set of 10 countermovement jumps. The maximal and average forces generated by legs in tethered swimming (F_{l max} and F_{l ave}) turned out to be the strongest predictors of sprint swimming aptitude. These values were strongly correlated with total speed (V_total50) (r = 0.49, p < 0.05 and r = 0.54, p < 0.01, respectively), start, turn, and finishing speed (V_STF) (r = 0.60, p < 0.01 and r = 0.67, p < 0.01, respectively). The relationship of F_{l max} and F_{l ave} with surface speed (V_surface) was moderate (r = 0.33, non-significant and r = 0.41, p < 0.05, respectively). The maximal force generated by arms (F_{a max}) during flume tethered swimming significantly influenced V_surface and V_total50 (0.51, p < 0.01 and 0.47, p < 0.05, respectively). Its relationship with V_STF was close to significant (0.36, p = 0.07). Upper and lower limb dry-land tests showed lower and more holistic relationships with the 50-m front crawl race, however, being a good complement to overall fitness assessment. Specific in-water evaluation, especially the newly prepared flutter kicking test, as well as dry-land tests, can be applied to regularly monitor progress in swimming training, and to identify talented swimmers.