INTRODUCTION: Maximal swimming speed is determined by the interplay of metabolic (aerobic and anaerobic) and mechanical (drag and propulsion) parameters, but their importance varies by discipline (i.e., short-, middle-, and long-distance). Such differences in the relationship between performance determinants and race speeds have already been demonstrated for single distances (e.g., 100 [Latt et al., 2010] or 400 m [Jurimae et al., 2007]). However, to investigate systematic differences, it is necessary to minimize the influence of divergent diagnostic methods, training phases, and heterogeneous samples. In addition, most available research focused only on male swimmers. Thus, we related anthropometric, neuromuscular, and metabolic and parameters to short- and middle-distance race speeds in female national-level squad swimmers to assess their relevance to swimming performance. METHODS: 16 female short- and middle-distance front crawl swimmers (15.1 ± 1.3 yrs, FINA points: 728 ± 43) were tested during the competition period. Besides dryland anthropometric (body height, mass, and arm span) and neuromuscular assessment (squat and bench press 1 repetition maximum [1RMSQ, 1RMBP]), metabolic parameters (energy cost of swimming [C], maximal oxygen uptake [V. O2peak], lactate threshold 1 [LT1], and maximal lactate accumulation rate [c.Lamax]) were determined in water using a 500 m submaximal, 200 m all-out, incremental step (+0.03 m.s-1 every 3 min), and 20 s sprint test, respectively. Performance was recorded as average speed over 50 (v50), 100 (v100), 200 (v200), and 400 m (v400) in official races ~3 wk around the diagnostic assessment. Bivariate Pearson correlations r were used to examine associations between diagnostic parameters and performance over different distances. RESULTS: V50 (1.84 ± 0.08 m.s-1) correlated moderately with c.Lamax (0.38 ± 0.11 mmol.L-1.s-1; r = .46, p = .08) and highly with mass (62.2 ± 7.8 kg; r = .59, p = .03) and 1RMSQ (67.8 ± 14.1 kg; r = .56, p = .06), while v100 (1.69 ± 0.07 m.s-1) was highly and moderately associated with mass (r = .59, p = .02) and 1RMSQ (r = .46, p = .11), respectively. V200 (1.52 ± 0.05 m.s-1) correlated highly with LT1 (1.22 ± 0.03 m.s-1; r = .56, p = .05) and moderately with mass (r = .44, p = .11) and 1RMBP (51.1 ± 7.1 kg; r = .40, p = .18), while v400 (1.41 ± 0.06 m.s-1) was highly associated with LT1 (r = .62, p = .04) and 1RMBP (r = .53, p = .12). DISCUSSION: Moderate to high correlations of body mass and 1RMSQ with v50/v100 and of LT1 and 1RMBP with v200/v400 suggest greater importance of anthropometrics and lower body strength for short-distance performance and aerobic capacity and upper body strength for middle-distance performance in young female squad swimmers. Therefore, depending on the discipline, training in this collective may focus on either improving dryland (lower body) strength in short-distance swimmers or improving aerobic capacity through high-volume and/or high-intensity water training and dryland upper body strength in middle-distance swimmers.
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