The road to 21 seconds: A case report of a 2016 Olympic swimming sprinter

Abstract

This study aimed to describe training characteristics as well as physical, technical and morphological changes of an elite Olympic swimming sprinter throughout his road to 21 s in the 50 m freestyle. Over a ∼2.5-year period, the following assessments were obtained: external training load, competitive performance, instantaneous swimming speed, tethered force, dry-land maximal dynamic strength in bench press, pull-up and back squat and body composition. From 2014 to 2016, the athlete dropped 3.3% of his initial best time by reducing total swimming time (i.e. the total time minus 15-m start time – from 17.07 s to 16.21 s) and improving the stroke length (from 1.83 m to 2.00 m). Dry-land strength (bench press: 27.3%, pull-up: 9.1% and back squat: 37.5%) and tethered force (impulse: 30.5%) increased. Competitive performance was associated to average (r = −0.82, p = 0.001) and peak speeds (r = −0.71; p = 0.009) and to lean body mass (r = −0.55; p = 0.03), which increased in the first year and remained stable thereafter. External training load presented a polarized pattern in all training seasons. This swimmer reached the sub-22 s mark by reducing total swimming time, which was effected by a longer stroke length. He also considerably improved his dry-land strength and tethered force levels likely due to a combination of neural and morphological adaptations.