A Study of Three Competitive Swimming Front Racing Starts

Abstract

The problem. The purpose of this study was to compare three competitive swimming front starts: the conventional arm swing start, the grab start, and the grab (butterfly) start. Procedure. Thirteen experienced competitive swimmers (six female and seven male) did each of the three starts a total of six times. The middle four times for each start were used as data to determine the means for each of the three starts for each subject. All starts were filmed and timed to measure these three factors: 1. The time elapsed from the starting signal to the time the subject's feet left the starting block. 2. The distance the subject traveled in the air. 3. The time from the starting signal to a distance of fifteen feet from the starting block. Findings. An analysis of variance proved to be statistically significant in one of the measured factors: The time elapsed from the starting signal to the time the subjects' feet left the blocks. For this factor, there was an advantage for the two grab starts over the conventional start. The study did not show any significant differences in the other two factors; however, some differences were noted with individual subjects.