THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHORT DISTANCE SWIMMING PERFORMANCE AND REPEATED SPRINT ABILITY IN SWIMMERS

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between short distance swimming performance and repeated sprint ability in swimmers. 12 male swimmers between the ages of 14-18 from Denizli Pamukkale University Swimming Sports Club Performance team voluntarily participated at this study. Freestyle swimming time of the subjects was measured by using Casio stopwatch. 8x15-m, 25-m, 50-m and 100-m freestyle swimming degrees of swimmers were recorded. The ideal sprint time (IS), the total sprint time (TS) and the performance decrement (PD) were determined after repeated sprint test (RST). Lactate levels were recorded at the end of each test. The Borg scale was used to determine the perceived difficulty level. For the statistical analysis Pearson’s correlation was used to determine the correlations between 25-m, 50-m and 100-m freestyle swimming time and swimming times obtained at the end of RST (IS, TS, PD). Significant relationships were found between the 25-m, 50-m and 100-m swimming performance (p<0.01). Significant correlations were found between the IS and the TS and the 25-m and 50-m swim results (p<0.01) and also the 100-m swim results (p<0.05). Significant relationships were found between obtained lactate values end of the 25-m, 50-m and 8x15-m RST (p<0.05). Significant correlations were found between the 50-m lactate values and 25-m lactate values (p<0.05); also between 50-m lactate values and 8x15-m RST lactate values (p<0.01). There was no significant relationship between 100-m lactate values and 25-m, 50-m and 8x15-m RST lactate values (p>0.05). Significant relationships were found between 8x15-m RST lactate values and 25-m lactate values (p<0.05). Moreover, strong relations were found between the 8x15-m RST lactate values and 50-m lactate values (p<0.01). The findings of the present study indicated that repeated sprint ability as well as higher anaerobic capability as reflected by the short distance. The results also indicated that repeated sprint ability is strongly related to swim sprint performance.