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BIOMECHANICS DISABILITY SWIMMING
BIOMECHANICS SUPPORT FOR BRITISH WORLD CLASS DISABILITY SWIMMING
In disability swimming competitions, athletes with conditions such as limb loss, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy or other physical impairments, may compete against each other, depending on which classification they are given. Great Britain is one of the world leaders in disability swimming and is the current International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Champion. As a result of significant funding from UK Sport, the 41 athletes presently on British Disability Swimming’s World Class Pathway programme have access to world class coaching and a coordinated network of support services, including medical, physiotherapy, nutrition, strength & conditioning, physiology, psychology, performance analysis and biomechanics. The purpose of this paper is to
provide an overview of the biomechanics support services currently being provided to elite British swimmers with a disability.
BY DR CARL PAYTON, PhD
BIOMECHANICS SUPPORT Biomechanics support for British Disability Swimming is led by the author, but involves a significant input from a number of other specialists. The aim is to deliver a comprehensive programme of support to Britain’s elite disabled competitive swimmers and their coaches, to enhance performance at elite level. To achieve this aim, the programme involves: n Analysing starting, turning and stroking techniques in training, and in competition, to identify strengths and weaknesses n Developing new testing protocols and equipment to provide rapid feedback of relevant information, in a user-friendly format n Creating strategies for modifying technique and regularly monitoring each swimmer’s progress n Providing coaching support through seminars, workshops, articles etc n Conducting applied research projects to underpin the support work. There are three distinct components of support:
1) biomechanical assessment and intervention; 2) applied research projects, and 3) coach mentoring and support. This section will provide more detail on each of these.
BIOMECHANICAL ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION Both qualitative and quantitative biomechanical assessment techniques are used to analyse swimmers in training and in competition. Swimmers have the opportunity to be assessed at least three times per year at one of the Disability Swimming High Performance Centres (Stirling, Manchester and Swansea). Four types of assessment are currently available: n qualitative AND quantitative video analysis n race analysis n velocity meter analysis n tethered and semi-tethered force analysis.
Video analysis (qualitative and quantitative) Above and below water digital video recordings are used to provide
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