Are Dry-Land Force-Velocity Abilities Related to In-Water Load-Velocity Profiles in Sprint Swimming?

Swimming propulsion can be improved using dry-land resistance training. Indeed, previous studies showed that the ability to produce maximal power and maximal force on dry-land is strongly related to sprint swimming performance. However, the relationship between dry-land force-velocity and in-water load-velocity profiles remain underexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate these relationships in sprint swimmers. Ten male and seven female swimmers (mean ± SD, age: 18 ± 2.2 years; body mass: 67.5 ± 6.3 kg; height: 178.7 ± 7.9 cm) completed dry-land force-velocity profiles on three resistance exercises (lat pulldown, bench press, and bench pull). Then, a swimming load-velocity profile was carried out using a semi-tethered protocol. Multiple linear regressions and Spearman correlations were performed to establish relationships between parameters measured in the two conditions (significance level: p < 0.05). The main finding was that dry-land maximal strength was more strongly correlated to in-water parameters compared to dry-land maximal speed. More specifically, strong relationships were found between maximal force measured on the lat pulldown exercise and swimming parameters. Another finding suggests that dry-land maximal force, velocity, and power parameters had a stronger association with maximal swimming velocity than with maximal swimming load. Sex-dependent effect was observed regarding load-velocity parameters and some dry-land parameters such as dry-land maximal power. This study emphasizes the importance of targeted training abilities (such as dry-land maximal force) and exercises (such as the lat pulldown) in improving swimming performance factors.