ArticleBMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation2024
Physical performance determinants in competitive youth swimmers: a systematic review.
Article in BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Enhancing Surgical Robotic Skills Through Performance-Guided Training: A Swimmer's Approach for Defining Key Metrics.JSLS : Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic SurgeonsPooled it
- Changes in body composition and low-grade inflammation status in boys during a basketball afterschool program for three years.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Assessing the Relationship between In-Water Kinetic Asymmetries and Performance in Swimming.Journal of human kinetics · 2026Article
- Exploring associations between energetic and anthropometric characteristics with front crawl technique in young male swimmers using IMU sensors: a preliminary study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Relationship between anaerobic power and start performance parameters in adolescent swimmers.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Associations of body morphology and body composition with swimming performance in male and female youth swimmers: an exploratory cross-sectional study.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Physical performance predictors in youth breaststroke swimming: motor and biomotor diagnostic differences.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2025Article
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- Comparative effectiveness of physical training modalities on swimming performance: a two-tier network meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Review
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- Investigation of Factors Related to Sport-Specific Compulsory Element Execution in Artistic Swimming.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The variability of competitive performance and pacing strategies in different rounds of the 400 m and 800 m freestyle swimming races at the 2017-2024 World Swimming Championships.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundYouth swimming performance is determined by several physiological, biomechanical and anthropometric characteristics. This review aimed to identify physical performance determinants of youth swimming performance, assessing strength, power, anaerobic, aerobic and body composition measures. ̇
methodsSearches were conducted in electronic databases (PubMed and Web of Science) using keywords relating to swimming and physiological measures, supplemented by citation searching of similar reviews. A total of 843 studies were identified in the initial search. The following inclusion criteria were used: participants were competitive/trained swimmers; swimming time-trial or event was conducted; data was provided on one or more physiological parameters; study was published in English and peer-reviewed. A total of 43 studies met the inclusion criteria. Risk of bias was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist.
resultsCross-sectional studies scored between 4-8 and randomised-controlled trials scored 8-9 on their respective JBI checklists. Youth swimming performance was determined by muscle strength, muscle power, lean body mass, anaerobic and aerobic metabolism measures in most studies, where improved performance values of these variables were conducive to swimming performance. Body fat percentage did not have a clear relationship in youth swimming performance.
conclusionsFindings of this review suggest that greater levels of muscle strength, muscle power and lean body mass are favourable in swimming performance, with muscle strength and muscle power particularly beneficial for start and turn performance. Anaerobic and aerobic metabolism measures were good determinants of swimming performance, with middle- and long-distance events more influenced by the latter. Body fat percentage has a nuanced relationship with swimming performance, where further investigation is required. Findings were inconsistent across studies, potentially due to unidentified confounding factors. KEY POINTS: • Greater muscular strength and power qualities, anaerobic and aerobic capacities, and lean body mass are conducive to swimming performance. • Body fat percentage has a nuanced relationship with swimming performance. • Practitioners should consider general strength and power training as a useful tool to enhance performance in their youth competitors.
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Registered trials
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