Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes
Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify intra- and inter-individual variabilities during short course 50 m sprints. Swimming velocity (SV), stroke frequency (SF), and stroke length (SL) for each stroke cycle in 189 male and 160 female swimmers’ 50 m time trials (with their specialised str...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08519-9 |
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| author | Tomohiro Gonjo Santiago Veiga Francisco Hermosilla-Perona Bjørn Harald Olstad |
| author_facet | Tomohiro Gonjo Santiago Veiga Francisco Hermosilla-Perona Bjørn Harald Olstad |
| author_sort | Tomohiro Gonjo |
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| description | Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify intra- and inter-individual variabilities during short course 50 m sprints. Swimming velocity (SV), stroke frequency (SF), and stroke length (SL) for each stroke cycle in 189 male and 160 female swimmers’ 50 m time trials (with their specialised stroke) were analysed. The inter-individual variability for each kinematic variable was analysed using the inter-individual standard deviation of the Gaussian Process regression. Intra-participant variability was analysed using k-means clustering with kinematic data extracted from the first, mid-, and last strokes. In all strokes and both sexes, swimmers showed large inter-individual kinematic variabilities at the first and last strokes, which justified the need to separate these strokes from the clean-swimming segment in race analyses. Intra-individual kinematic patterns were categorised into four clusters with different within-lap SV patterns. Particularly, many front crawl and backstroke swimmers showed a faster velocity in mid-pool than in the transition, while many butterfly swimmers showed the fastest SV in the transition. This might suggest a greater difficulty in the transition technique in alternating strokes than in butterfly. Race analyses should focus on not only the overall trend but also individual variabilities to investigate the swimmers’ behaviour during swimming races. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e3661f2e29f4f9e9d38fd34c4afb8e0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
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| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e3661f2e29f4f9e9d38fd34c4afb8e02025-08-20T03:45:20ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111010.1038/s41598-025-08519-9Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokesTomohiro Gonjo0Santiago Veiga1Francisco Hermosilla-Perona2Bjørn Harald Olstad3School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Institute for Life and Earth Sciences, Heriot-Watt UniversitySports Department, Universidad Politécnica de MadridDepartment of Physical Activity and Sports Science, Alfonso X El Sabio UniversityDepartment of Physical Performance, Norwegian School of Sport SciencesAbstract The purpose of this study was to identify intra- and inter-individual variabilities during short course 50 m sprints. Swimming velocity (SV), stroke frequency (SF), and stroke length (SL) for each stroke cycle in 189 male and 160 female swimmers’ 50 m time trials (with their specialised stroke) were analysed. The inter-individual variability for each kinematic variable was analysed using the inter-individual standard deviation of the Gaussian Process regression. Intra-participant variability was analysed using k-means clustering with kinematic data extracted from the first, mid-, and last strokes. In all strokes and both sexes, swimmers showed large inter-individual kinematic variabilities at the first and last strokes, which justified the need to separate these strokes from the clean-swimming segment in race analyses. Intra-individual kinematic patterns were categorised into four clusters with different within-lap SV patterns. Particularly, many front crawl and backstroke swimmers showed a faster velocity in mid-pool than in the transition, while many butterfly swimmers showed the fastest SV in the transition. This might suggest a greater difficulty in the transition technique in alternating strokes than in butterfly. Race analyses should focus on not only the overall trend but also individual variabilities to investigate the swimmers’ behaviour during swimming races.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08519-9Functional variabilityAquatic locomotionButterflyBackstrokeBreaststrokeFront crawl |
| spellingShingle | Tomohiro Gonjo Santiago Veiga Francisco Hermosilla-Perona Bjørn Harald Olstad Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes Scientific Reports Functional variability Aquatic locomotion Butterfly Backstroke Breaststroke Front crawl |
| title | Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| title_full | Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| title_fullStr | Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| title_short | Variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| title_sort | variabilities in the stroking parameters during short course 50 m time trials in all four competitive swimming strokes |
| topic | Functional variability Aquatic locomotion Butterfly Backstroke Breaststroke Front crawl |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08519-9 |
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