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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

A Rapidly Incremented Tethered-Swimming Maximal Protocol for Cardiorespiratory Assessment of Swimmers
Published on: January 28, 2020
Propulsion and symmetry within the stroke cycle: a comparison between tethered and free swimming
Gabriele Russo1,2, Vittorio Coloretti2, Sandro Bartolomei2
1Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy.
Background:
Asymmetry of propulsion is a key factor when the movements of two limbs occur in sequence. Considering the difficulties in quantifying thrust forces during free-swimming, tethered-swimming is proposed as an alternative tool. The purpose of this study was to investigate the thrust forces during tethered and free-swimming, including the effect of hand dominance.
Methods:
Eleven swimmers were analyzed during 10-s all-out front-crawl swimming test in both conditions using only arms. Two pressure sensors were attached to each swimmer's hand (palmar and dorsal side) to estimate the propulsive forces as the horizontal component of the product of hand differential pressure and hand surface. Propelling forces in terms of average (F
Results:
Larger hand propulsion was found in tethered than in free-swimming (~16%, 11%, and 21%, for F
Conclusions:
Larger hand force in tethered than free-swimming conditions is explained by differences from entry to catch phase.
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