Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Blog”
A young swimmer is over the moon with joy. He has managed to set his first three qualifying times in just a single weekend. He will compete in his category at the next nationals and do so in style. His coach showers him with praise. Buzzing, he walks over to the spectator seating where he is enthusiastically congratulated by colleagues …
Take home points1) Races and time trials are valid measurements of fitness, comparable to physiological testing protocols2) A combination of different swim tests is desirable as swimmers have different strengths and weaknesses3) Testing conditions should always be repeatable to ensure reliability Many swim tests are commonly used to assess fitness, whether to set a baseline, measure progress, or establish training …
On March 23, 2020 Dick Pound said the 2020 Olympics would likely be postponed. “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound said in a phone interview. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.” This came a few …
Six years ago, I wrote a very controversial piece for Swimming World suggesting that age-group and developing swimmers should take a 2-month break every year from swimming. In this article, I discussed how a two-month break would benefit swimmers physically and psychologically. I also hypothesized on a few reasons why a two-month break is unlikely in the sport. While typing …
“What are you doing during the shelter-in-place?” “Is your team practicing?” “Anyone have any Zoom practice ideas?” These are the common questions from coaches and swimmers. Clearly, coaches and swimmers are concerned about swimming detraining. I recently spoke with Dr. Rodrigo Zacca, Ph.D, a Postdoctoral Researcher of Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal who published a recent study on Effects of …
In this episode, Dr. John is joined with two leading researchers in shoulder injury prevention in swimmers. Dr. Boettcher and Dr. Ginn discuss their latest study on shoulder strength ratios in elite swimmers.
In this episode of the Swimming Science Podcast, Dr. John chats with World-Renowned swimming researcher Henrique Neiva. If you have a question for Henrique, post it in the comments below to have it answered Henrique Pereira Neiva concluded his degree in Sport and Physical Education in the Faculty of Sport of University of Porto (2008).In 2015 finished Ph.D in in …
Injury screens were recently popularized with the functional movement screen (FMS). In fact, we created a comprehensive guide for injury screening for swimmers in our Dryland for Swimmers book. We created this as we felt the land-based tests weren’t predictable of swimming due to the novelties of the motions in the pool. One of the most effective methods to reduce …
Using hand paddles during swimming is a common practice in the sport. Although many swim coaches use hand paddles for training, do they consider how swimming hand paddle training influences swimming biomechanics? Utilizing paddles during training likely will alter biomechanics, but how does the paddle size change biomechanics? Shouldn’t this be a consideration considering the arms produce approximately 85% of …
Strength training and swimming have always been a debated topic. In fact, some argue that strength training and/or plyometrics are not beneficial for swimming performance. I personally performed a comprehensive strength training for swimming review and produced Dryland for Swimmers. However, new research is evolving and new research on how strength training improves swimming starts was recently published. Strength Training …