Investigation of the effect of 12-week core training on arm and leg strength and freestyle and backstroke swimming performance

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether core training has an effect on freestyle (50m, 100m, 200m) and backstroke (50m, 100m, 200m) swimming distances in male swimmers aged 9-11. The average height of the participants included in the study is 144±57 cm, their average body weight is 38±29 kg, and their average sports age is 2±29 years. Individuals receiving swimming training were divided into experimental (24) and control (11) groups. Before and after the exercise, their height, body weight, pulling and pushing forces of both arms in freestyle and pulling and pushing forces of both arms in supine style were determined. Pushing and pulling forces of both legs were determined in freestyle and supine styles. In addition to these measurements, the participants' 50m, 100m, 200m freestyle and backstroke swimming times were determined. SPSS 26.00 package program was used to analyze the data. As a result of the normality analysis of the data, it was determined that the data reported by the Shapiro-Wilk test were normally distributed if the skewness and kurtosis values were between-1.5 and +1.5. Therefore, the data were analyzed using "One Way Anova" and correlation tests. As a result of the analysis, it was determined that right and left arm pushing and pulling forces created significant differences in freestyle distances of 50m, 100m, 200m. (p>0.05). In the backstroke swimming distances of 50m, 100m, 200m, the pretest and posttest values of all groups were found to be significant (p<0.05). As a result of leg strength, it was determined that there was a significant difference in right and left pushing and pulling forces in freestyle distances of 50m, 100m, 200m. (p>0.05). It was determined that there was no significant relationship between leg strength values in the supine style (p>0.05). As a result, it can be said that the applied core training affects arm and leg pushing and pulling forces, and also has a positive effect on arm and leg strengths in 50 m, 100 m, 200 m swimming times in both styles.