Background: Conditioning activities such as high-load resistance exercise (RE) are sometimes used with the aim of acutely and temporarily enhancing subsequent sports performance in the context of post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE)-informed warm-up strategies. However, although such effects have been reported in land-based movements, findings in swimming remain inconsistent. Aim: This study aimed to examine the acute effects of three RE-based warm-up protocols on short-distance swimming performance. Methods: Fifteen male collegiate swimmers completed four conditions: tube pulling on land, band-resisted squats, medicine ball slams, and a no-exercise control condition. Each RE protocol consisted of three 10-second sets with 1 minute of rest between sets. After 8 minutes of rest, participants performed a maximal 25-m front-crawl swimming trial. Outcome variables, calculated from GoPro video recordings, were 25-m front-crawl swim time, 15-m and 20-m split times, start variables including block time (s), hand-release time (s), flight distance (m), take-off speed (m/s), horizontal take-off velocity (m/s), and average horizontal flight velocity (m/s), and stroke variables, including stroke frequency (Hz), stroke length (m/stroke), and index of coordination (%). A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted for each variable, with the significance level set at 5%. Results: No significant main effects of condition were observed for 25-m time, split times, start variables, and stroke variables. However, descriptive individual responses suggested that some participants showed reduced swim times under specific RE conditions. Conclusions: The three RE protocols did not significantly improve 25-m front-crawl swimming performance on average, but descriptive individual, condition-specific responses suggest that the optimal PAPE-informed high-load warm-up protocol may differ among swimmers. These findings should not be interpreted as evidence that potentiation was induced.
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