IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2021i1p164-d710158.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pandemic-Induced Reductions on Swim Training Volume and Performance in Collegiate Swimmers

Author

Listed:
  • Gloria Martinez Perez

    (Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA)

  • Matthew VanSumeren

    (Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA)

  • Michael Brown

    (Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA)

  • Tamara Hew-Butler

    (Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Studies, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant training disruptions during the 2020–2021 season, due to lockdowns, quarantines, and strict adherence to the pandemic protocols. The main purpose of this study was to determine how the pandemic training restrictions affected training volume and performance in one collegiate swim team. Cumulative training volume data across a 28-week season were compared between a pandemic (2020–2021) versus non-pandemic (2019–2020) season. The swimmers were categorized into three groups (sprinters, mid-distance, and long-distance) based on their training group. The performance times of 25 swimmers who competed in the regional championships, during both the non-pandemic and pandemic year, were compared via one-way ANOVA. Twenty-six male and 22 female swimmers commenced the 2020–2021 (pandemic) season, with 23% of the swimmers voluntarily opting out. Three COVID-19 cases were confirmed (2%) by the medical staff, with no long-term effects. Significant reductions in the average swim volume were verified in sprinters (32,867 ± 10,135 vs. 14,800 ± 7995 yards; p < 0.001), mid-distance (26,457 ± 10,692 vs. 17,054 ± 9.923 yards; p < 0.001), and long-distance (37,600 ± 14,430 vs. 22,254 ± 14,418 yards; p < 0.001) swimmers (non-pandemic vs. pandemic season, respectively). In the regional performance analyses, the sprinters swam faster ( n = 8; −0.5 ± 0.6 s), while the mid-distance ( n = 10; 0.17 ± 2.1 s) and long-distance ( n = 7; 6.0 ± 4.9 s) swimmers swam slower (F = 11.76; p = 0.0003; r 2 = 0.52). Thus, the pandemic caused significant reductions in swim training volume, with sprinters performing better and long-distance swimmers performing worse at the regional championships.

Suggested Citation

  • Gloria Martinez Perez & Matthew VanSumeren & Michael Brown & Tamara Hew-Butler, 2021. "Pandemic-Induced Reductions on Swim Training Volume and Performance in Collegiate Swimmers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:164-:d:710158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/164/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/164/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monoem Haddad & Zied Abbes & Iñigo Mujika & Karim Chamari, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on Swimming Training: Practical Recommendations during Home Confinement/Isolation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-12, April.
    2. Emese Csulak & Árpád Petrov & Tímea Kováts & Márton Tokodi & Bálint Lakatos & Attila Kovács & Levente Staub & Ferenc Imre Suhai & Erzsébet Liliána Szabó & Zsófia Dohy & Hajnalka Vágó & Dávid Becker & , 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Preparation for the Tokyo Olympics: A Comprehensive Performance Assessment of Top Swimmers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Gallè & Carmela Protano & Matteo Zaccarin & Stefano Zanni & Federica Valeriani & Giorgio Liguori & Vincenzo Romano Spica & Matteo Vitali, 2022. "Swimming at the Time of COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study among Young Italian Competitive Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-8, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sabrina Demarie & Emanuele Chirico & Christel Galvani, 2022. "Prediction and Analysis of Tokyo Olympic Games Swimming Results: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Swimmers’ Performance," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Francesca Gallè & Carmela Protano & Matteo Zaccarin & Stefano Zanni & Federica Valeriani & Giorgio Liguori & Vincenzo Romano Spica & Matteo Vitali, 2022. "Swimming at the Time of COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study among Young Italian Competitive Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-8, October.
    3. Todd McFall & John Whitehead, 2024. "Measuring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Elite Swimming Performance," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 25(5), pages 634-656, June.
    4. Emese Csulak & Árpád Petrov & Tímea Kováts & Márton Tokodi & Bálint Lakatos & Attila Kovács & Levente Staub & Ferenc Imre Suhai & Erzsébet Liliána Szabó & Zsófia Dohy & Hajnalka Vágó & Dávid Becker & , 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Preparation for the Tokyo Olympics: A Comprehensive Performance Assessment of Top Swimmers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-12, September.
    5. Amanda Batista & Elmiro Neto & Luís Branquinho & Ricardo Ferraz & Joana Ribeiro & Pedro Forte & Lurdes Ávila-Carvalho, 2022. "Flexibility of Ballet Dancers in COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Observational Study in Portugal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-11, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:164-:d:710158. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.