Are Dry‐Land Force–Velocity Abilities Related to In‐Water Load–Velocity Profiles in Sprint Swimming?

ABSTRACT Swimming propulsion can be improved using dry‐land resistance training. Indeed, previous studies showed that the ability to produce maximal power and maximal force on dry‐land is strongly related to sprint swimming performance. However, the relationship between dry‐land force–velocity and in‐water load–velocity profiles remain underexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate these relationships in sprint swimmers. Ten male and seven female swimmers (mean ± SD, age: 18 ± 2.2 years; body mass: 67.5 ± 6.3 kg; height: 178.7 ± 7.9 cm) completed dry‐land force–velocity profiles on three resistance exercises (lat pulldown, bench press, and bench pull). Then, a swimming load–velocity profile was carried out using a semi‐tethered protocol. Multiple linear regressions and Spearman correlations were performed to establish relationships between parameters measured in the two conditions (significance level: p < 0.05). The main finding was that dry‐land maximal strength was more strongly correlated to in‐water parameters compared to dry‐land maximal speed. More specifically, strong relationships were found between maximal force measured on the lat pulldown exercise and swimming parameters. Another finding suggests that dry‐land maximal force, velocity, and power parameters had a stronger association with maximal swimming velocity than with maximal swimming load. Sex‐dependent effect was observed regarding load–velocity parameters and some dry‐land parameters such as dry‐land maximal power. This study emphasizes the importance of targeted training abilities (such as dry‐land maximal force) and exercises (such as the lat pulldown) in improving swimming performance factors.