Long-term swimming career paths are most often planned for athletes to peak at the end of a quadrennial period culminating with the Olympic Games, coinciding with their athletic maturity. Recent investigations indicate that exceptional junior performances, high progression rates, and optimized technical and physiological variety contribute to successful senior performances. Future performances, generally faster at the Olympic Games than at World Championships, can be determined by highly accurate performance prediction models, contributing to evidence-based decision making for coaches and swimming federations. In the short term, international-level swimmers usually design their annual training to qualify for major championships, then attempt to improve further at these events. However, faster performances at the main events occur in just ~40% of races, and performance progression at a major competition is necessary to win a medal or make the final, independent of race event, sex, and age. Peak performance is usually attained by skillfully intertwining periodized phases of hard, intensive training and shorter phases of reduced training (i.e. tapering) throughout the season. Periodization has traditionally focused on the exercise aspect of athletic preparation, while neglecting other elements that can impact a swimmer`s readiness for peak competition performances. Integrated periodization, on the other hand, allows the coordinated inclusion of multiple training components best suited for a given training phase into an athlete`s program, such as recovery, nutrition, psychological skills, skill acquisition, body composition, altitude training and heat adaptation. Tapering can facilitate peak performance by diminishing residual fatigue, increasing muscular force and power, improving hematological and hormonal function, and facilitating psychological readiness to perform. Performance gains of ~0.5-6.0% are independent of sex, event duration, technical aspects of competition, and the calibre of the athlete. Mathematical models of the effects of training on performance have contributed to understanding tapering-induced performance gains, and the development of innovative tapering strategies
© Copyright 2026 XVth International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming Proceedings. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.