Types of strength for swimmers

Swimming is not a sport that gives immediate gratification. When a person comes into competitive swimming without a base of athleticism, a great deal of time and energy must be devoted to building that base, to prepare the person to take on the rigors of training for competitive swimming. In contrast, when these qualities are already present, a swimmer is able to excel faster. A swimmer who comes into swimming with an athletic base in place is able to concentrate on developing solid swimming skills, gaining swimming experience, and swimming fast.

Athleticism is defined in many ways. Here, we will measure athleticism in the following terms:

• Cardiovascular fitness - ability of the body to transport and utilize oxygen.
• Flexibility - range of motion.
• Coordination - integrating movements into unified effective effort.
• Strength - power, force, explosiveness and stability against resistance.

Today we're going to talk about the four different types of strength that swimmers should be concerned with because swimmers too need muscle strength to improve their swimming.

• Force is the maximum amount of resistance that can be applied. In the case of swimming, force refers to the maximum resistance that can be applied to the water, in one stroke, from the beginning of the catch through the end of the underwater stroke, accelerating from beginning to end. More deliverable force improves a swimmer's distance per stroke, ultimately producing more potential for speed.
• Power is the ability to maintain force over time. In swimming, power is required to do the series of strokes it takes to complete any single lap or distance in the pool. A swimmer who is able to keep a higher percentage of force throughout his or her race all the way to the end with less fatigue is able to maintain more even splits, and therefore produce a faster overall time.
• Explosiveness is the ability to recruit a burst of force. In swimming, explosiveness is beneficial for fast starts, turns and sprinting. A swimmer with good explosive strength is quick off the blocks and has turns that set him or her apart from the rest. Explosiveness is also the basis of sprinting. However, it should be pointed out that swimming even the shortest race takes more than just explosiveness, it also takes power and force to sprint well.
• Stability refers to one's ability to balance and control movements from within the body. In swimming, we must be able to create and maintain integrity in motion, and do so without the support of the ground. The ability to stabilize oneself is crucial to producing forward motion while floating. A swimmer with good stability is able to generate power from the center of the body and send it upward to the arms and downward to the legs in a continual chain reaction to generate speed.

Strength training can enhance a swimmer's water training and a strength training programme that addresses all four kinds of strength should be considered an essential part of a swimmer's long term training.

Image source: [1]