Exploring the impact of breathing patterns on active drag in breaststroke swimming.

Alves, Miriam; Barbosa, Tiago M; Paulo Vilas-Boas, João · J Biomech · 2024

biomechanical · Level V

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Abstract

This study aimed to compare active drag (D<sub>a</sub>), coefficient of hydrodynamic force (C<sub>Da</sub>) and, total external mechanical power (P<sub>tot</sub>) between two breathing patterns in breaststroke: breathing every stroke versus every two strokes. A 6-week intervention program was conducted. Fifteen swimmers carried out two all-out bouts of 25 m using the velocity perturbation method in each breathing pattern. The study analyzed the swimmers' velocity (swimming freely and with the towed body), D<sub>a</sub>, C<sub>Da</sub> and P<sub>tot</sub>. Individual data analysis revealed that 40 % of the sample experienced a decrease in D<sub>a</sub> when breathing every two strokes, with some achieving higher velocities. Conversely, nine swimmers exhibited lower D<sub>a</sub> values while breathing every stroke, with six of them also showing higher velocity values compared to breathing every two strokes. When comparing the pooled sample using paired t-tests, no differences were found in D<sub>a</sub>, C<sub>Da</sub> and, P<sub>tot</sub> between the two breathing patterns. Furthermore, using ANCOVA analysis, results indicated that neither sex nor swimming velocity influenced the variables studied.

Medical subject headings