About this Research Topic
Understanding the biomechanical, physiological, and neuromuscular determinants of swimming performance is still challenging. The aquatic environment is the major obstacle to obtaining, analyzing, and evaluating measures that contribute to or even determine performance, and there is also a wide variety of events (in swimming pools and open water), with a duration from a few seconds (50 m freestyle) to hours (25 km open water).
Biomechanical contributions, obtained with videogrammetry and dynamometry techniques in two or three dimensions, have helped to understand the kinematic and kinetic aspects of the different swimming strokes. These have been investigated under different intensities, in both training and competition and with particular attention to issues involving the generation of propulsive force and drag. Equally, energetic aspects contribute to the understanding of swimming performance. Specifically, metabolic contributions and oxygen uptake kinetics, with their adaptations to different types and periods of training and detraining. Finally, neuromuscular research, seeking to examine the response to different factors, such as fatigue, intensity, speed and technique, have so sought to portray swimming performance more precisely. Considering that there are four different competitive swimming strokes and competitions of different durations, each of these aspects should be carefully considered when discussing swimming training and performance.
More global issues, such as swimming coordination, propelling efficiency and energy cost, are still under scientific discussion, possibly due to different concepts, methods, and available technology. Therefore, new technologies, such as inertial and pressure sensors, different methods of analysis, such as neural networks, will possibly contribute even more to understanding this challenging sport.
The objective of this Research Topic is to obtain and strengthen evidence of training and swimming performance to increase scientific knowledge in the area. We welcome quantitative analysis in swimming training and performance that enhance our knowledge of:
• Physiological components of swimming training and performance;
• Biomechanical components of swimming training and performance;
• Neuromuscular components of swimming training and performance;
• Biophysical components of swimming training and performance.
Keywords: assessment, aquatic sports, energy, kinematics, kinetics, drag, propelling efficiency, physiology, motor control
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
