Swim Greek Coaches’ In-Water Pre-Competition Warm Up Practices for the 50 and 400m Events

Abstract

The physiological benefits of warming-up prior to a competition are well established. Specific warm up practices prescribed by elite swim coaches have been previously reported, providing useful information for educational purposes. However, the 50m race distance was not included, while the swimming intensities applied were expressed as a percentage of the individual’s perceived maximal exertion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in- water warm up strategies prescribed by swim coaches regarding the total volume and the design of the interval swimming sets performed by athletes specialized in the 50 and 400m events, expressed as a percentage of their individual race pace. Following a pilot study, a questionnaire was developed consisting of a total of twelve multiple choice and open- ended questions and distributed to thirty- one swim coaches with an average of 17.9 ± 8.9 years’ of coaching experience during a National championship. The response rate was 89%. According to the results, almost all respondents (97%) reported a differentiation of the in- water design depending on their athlete’s distance specificity, while a variety of practices was recorded. The results of this study propose a general guideline to swim coaches in order to optimize in- water warm up and, consequently, performance in competitive swimmers.