A comprehensive manual for elite open water swimmers - страница 4

♦ Strength Training: Targeting muscle groups used in swimming, with a focus on the core, shoulders, and upper body.

♦ Flexibility and Mobility: Stretching and mobility exercises to enhance range of motion and prevent injuries.

♦ Plyometrics and Power Development: Exercises to improve explosive strength and streamline dives and turns.

2.4 Nutrition and Hydration

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in an elite open water swimmer's performance and recovery:

♦ Pre-Race Nutrition: Timing and composition of meals and snacks before a race to optimize energy stores.

♦ During-Race Nutrition: Strategies for maintaining energy and hydration during long-distance races, including feeding schedules.

♦ Post-Race Recovery Nutrition: Refueling and rehydration after races and intense training sessions to support muscle recovery.

2.5 Monitoring and Performance Analysis

Swimming can be classified as a complex task because it cannot be mastered in a single session and has multiple degrees of freedom. Learning such a complex physical activity and mastering the optimal technique for its execution depend on the continuous assessment of its performance. When it comes to complex tasks in sport, augmented extrinsic feedback has been shown to be necessary and effective for the athlete progress and development, regardless of the feedback modality. Therefore, the goal for successful coaching in swimming is clear: provide high-quality feedback concurrently or shortly after the activity on a frequent basis.

Elite open water swimmers rely on data and feedback to fine-tune their training:

♦ Data Tracking: Using technology such as GPS devices, heart rate monitors, and swim metrics to analyze training data.

♦ Performance Analysis: Regular assessments of stroke technique, race times, and fitness levels to identify areas for improvement.

♦ Collaboration: Working closely with coaches and sports scientists to interpret data and make necessary adjustments to training plans.

As in any other sport, swimming coaches rely mainly on their observations and coaching experience to monitor and evaluate swimmers’ performance. However, such subjective and qualitative analysis is not accurate enough to provide precise information about a swimmer’s strengths and weaknesses. The complex nature of swimming has also led the research community to study it with new tools and systems from different perspectives, such as physiology, motor control, and biomechanics. As a result, more attention has been paid to the use of sophisticated analytical systems by both researchers and coaches to obtain an objective and quantitative assessment of swimming performance. Despite all the novel analysis methods that have been proposed for swimming analysis, there is a lack of an appropriate analysis system that can help both coaches and swimmers in better performance analysis. Video-based systems, most commonly used as the gold standard in swimming, suffer primarily from shortcomings such as the time-consuming process of calibrating and digitizing landmarks, image distortion due to water reflections and air bubbles, and small capture volume in aquatic environments. In contrast, ease of use, accessibility, easy-to-understand results, and feedback are the top four priorities of coaches in an analysis system.