Differences in the Start of Female and Male Junior Swimmers Compared with Superior Performance Benchmark

Abstract

Introduction: The swimmer's start is the first technique of a swim test, allowing to enter the water as quickly as possible, deducing that an effective start leads to a probabilistic increase in success in the swim test. In this sense, improving the motor movement characteristic of the swimmer's start is one of the fundamental directions of the training theory and methodology. Objective: For this reason, the research purpose is to analyze biomechanically the exit technique of the juvenile swimmer of both genders in relation to a benchmark of superior performance. Methods: The research is of a descriptive-explanatory type of correlational order, intentionally studying 13 swimmers (both genders; from the Specialized Training Sports Club "Regatas") in the starting technique with respect to two benchmarks with higher performance (one per gender), studying five variables of importance, such as the anatomical departure angle (ADA), hip flexion angle (HFA), hip angle with respect to horizontal (HAH), horizontal speed at takeoff (HST) and speed during the flight (SDF). Results: Significant differences are evident in four variables, "ADA" (p=0.000), "HFA" (p=0.014), "HST" (p=0.000) and "SDF" (p=0.000), being the exception the variable "HAH" (p=0.101). Conclusions: Emphasis should be placed on the technical training of the swimmers studied, by the Specialized Training Sports Club "Regatas", with a view to achieving greater increases in the specific technical performance of the swimmer's start, and therefore in the final performance of the youth swimmer.