Swimming strength and conditioning specialist Neil Donald emphasises that the main purpose of land training is to ensure good muscle balance to minimise injury risk and establish good posture to optimise swimming efficiency. This talk follows nicely from the talk on posture by physiotherapist Alison Fantom.

Click here to view his talk or click here to see more from the ISBS 2009 Applied Swimming Programme

In an entertaining talk physiotherapist Alison Fantom addresses the common postural problems of swimmers that affect performance. She provides important insights into how muscle imbalances and asymmetries can be prevented and corrected.

Click here to view her talk or click here to see more from the ISBS 2009 Applied Swimming Programme

In  a large study involving 494 12-16 year old swimmers of Portuguese national level Luis Rama and colleagues investigated the relationship with performance of a number of a large number of variables including anthropometric variables, training variables, physiological variables including power, gliding ability, buoyancy, swim tests including max velocity and mean velocity over 30m. The best predictors were the mean velocity over the 30m test (T30) plus height and maximal elbow extension strength  for the older swimmers and the glide after the start for younger swimmers. Many other variables had small but statistically significant relationships with performance.

Click here to view the full article

Rama, L., Santos, J., Gomes, P., and Alves, F. (2006). Determinant factors related to performance in young swimmers. In J.P. Vilas-Boas, F. Alves, A. Marques (eds.) Xth International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming, University of Porto, Porto, June, 2006. pp.246-249.

Click here to watch the video presentation and read the presentation abstract

Pipe, A. Anti-Doping....The Challenge...and the Opportunity. 16th FINA World Sports Medicine Congress, Manchester, 2008.