Stroking parameters in top level swimmers with a disability

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to analyze velocity (V), stroke le ngth (SL), and stroke rate (SR) values during the 100-m freestyle competiti ve events in top level male and female swimmers with a disability (DS) acco rding to the international Functional Classification System (FCS) and to co mpare the results obtained with those of able-bodied swimmers (ABS). Method s: DS (N = 119) and ABS (N = 32) were tested in real competitive conditions during European and French swimming championships in the A finals of the 1 00-m freestyle. Results: V and SL increased significantly (P < 0.01) accord ing to the level of ability from class S3 up to S10. SL values were signifi cantly different (P < 0.01) between males and females in each class group. On the contrary, SR was not significantly different between genders, betwee n each class group of FCS, and also with ABS. The major result of this stud y was that stroke length was related to velocity whereas stroke rate was no r. The differences in weekly training time between each class of DS were no t significantly different and showed that performances seemed to be more re lated to the various locomotor disabilities than to the training status. Co nclusions: These findings, which are discussed, showed that stroke index (S I = V.SL) could be used as a sensitive criterion to assess the swimmer with a disability in relationship to his classification level.