Romney, N. C., & Nethery, V. M. (1993). The effects of swimming and dryland warm-ups on 100-yard freestyle performance in collegiate swimmers. The Journal of Swimming Research, 9, 5-9.

This study determined the effectiveness of a swimming warm-up, a dryland warm-up, and no warm-up on 100-yard freestyle performance in collegiate swimmers (M = 4; F = 8). Ss performed two 100-yard trial swims on separate days following each warm-up condition. Swimming warm-up lasted 15 minutes. It consisted of a 5-minute continuous swim at an intensity corresponding to a rating of perceived exertion of 12 on Borg's 15-point scale. That was followed by 10 x 25 yards every 30 seconds building to 100-yard pace within each repeat. That was followed by a second 5-minute continuous swim at an RPE of 14. The dryland warm-up comprised five minutes of continuous rope jumping at an RPE of 12, then 10 x 15 seconds of calisthenics with 15 seconds rest, and finally another 5-minute rope jump at an RPE of 14. The no warm-up (control) condition consisted of sitting or lying still for 15 minutes. The criterion task of 100-y swimming began three minutes after the completion of the warm-up condition.

Performances following the swimming and dryland warm-ups were very similar. Swimming warm-up was significantly different to no warm-up.

Implication. " . . at meets where a warm-up pool is unavailable, swimmers can optimize their physiological preparation through the use of a dryland warm-up." (p. 5)

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