Dry-land Strength and Conditioning for Competitive Youth Swimmers

Launched by YORK ST JOHN UNIVERSITY · Jul 10, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is looking at how adding dry-land strength and conditioning exercises—in other words, gym workouts focused on building power and strength—can help young competitive swimmers improve their starts and turns, which are important parts of a race. The study will work with swimmers aged 12 to 21 who are part of the York City Baths Club’s National, Regional, or Club Squads. Researchers want to see if doing two supervised gym sessions each week for 10 weeks, alongside regular swim training, can make a difference in how well these swimmers perform in the pool and how physically fit they become.

If you join the study, you’ll continue your usual swim training but also attend gym sessions twice a week where you’ll do exercises designed to improve your jumping, pulling strength, and shoulder power. The researchers will test your swimming starts, turns, and overall fitness before the program begins, halfway through, and then a week and three weeks after it ends. They’ll use video recordings to closely look at how your dives and turns improve. To take part, you can’t have any current injuries that keep you from training, and you’ll need to be able to commit to the full 10 weeks of gym sessions. Parents or guardians, along with the swimmers themselves, will need to agree in writing before joining. This study aims to help young swimmers get faster and stronger by focusing on key parts of their races that can really make a difference.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Member of York City Baths Club's National, Regional or Club Squads
• • Age 12 to 21 years old
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Parent/guardian and/or swimmer unwilling to provide written, informed consent
• • Current time-loss injury
• • Unable to complete 2 interventions sessions per week for 10 weeks (intervention group only)