Frequency in freestyle swimming

The aim of this study was; to investigate the effects of hand paddles and fin on speed and stroke frequency in freestyle swimming. 14 male elite swimmers who were 14-16 years old and in first 5 rank in national wide swimming competitions were selected for this study. The protocol was applied with 1 day intervals consecutively in order with; "without additional resistance equipment (H)", "with fins (F)", "with pedal (P)", pedal and fins together (P+F) in 50m indoor swimming pool. Number of total swimming strokes, average speed and pulse rates were recorded after every test. Participants swam 2×300m./2× 200m. freestyle consecutively. Initially, 300m. in aerobic threshold, secondly 300m. in anaerobic threshold, subsequently 200m. in maxVO2 and finally 200m. swum in maximum intensity levels. Prior to first 300m. 1 min. second 300m. 3 min. and following 200m. 15 min interval was given. Initially "Kruskal-Wallis" test to find significant results, subsequently "Dunn multiple comparison" test to significant results applied in statistical analysis. "Repetitious measurements" and "Variance analysis" were also applied to test results to determine the differences between trainings and groups each other. Statistical analysis were done with SPSS 15.0 version. Stroke frequency values in additional resistance swimming was found significantly lower when compared with normal swimming in whole speeds and every measurement. Nevertheless, additional resistance swimming speeds were found significantly higher than normal swimming speed values in maximum speed swims. Therefore, normal swimming stroke frequency values should be protected especially during with paddle swimming. Swimmers' personal style and distance differences, advantages of using additional resistance (decrease in stroke frequency and increase in stroke length) in swimming should be considered by coaches and also thought to swimmers. Blood lactic acid measurements for additional resistance swimming should be applied in the beginning, middle and end of season and results should be considered in training programs and season planning. © IDOSI Publications, 2014