Investigation of the relationships between 50m freestyle swimming speed and reaction time, balance, strength and anthropometric characteristics in 8-12 year old swimmers

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between 50-meter freestyle swimming speed and reaction time, balance, strength and anthropometric characteristics in swimmers aged 8-12 years (10.57 ± 1.21 years). The sample of the study consisted of 35 licensed male (n: 18) and female (n: 17) swimming athletes-students in sports clubs in Düzce province. Participants were selected from athletes with at least 1 year of swimming license. For anthropometric characteristics, height, body weight, hand-arm length, sitting height were measured. Selective visual reaction time for reaction time, dynamic balance for balance, handgrip and explosive strength tests (horizontal and vertical jump) for strength, and 50 m freestyle swimming speed for swimming speed were performed. SPSS 25 program was used for the analysis of the measurement data, minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation values and correlation analysis were performed. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine whether the data were normally distributed. Since the data were normally distributed, Pearson correlation analysis was performed. The significance value was initially accepted as p<0.05. As a result of the study, it was determined that there were significant negative correlations between 50 m freestyle swimming speed and age (r= -,443 ; p= ,008), height (r= -,370 ; p= ,029), body weight (r= -,335 ; p= ,050), stroke length (r= -,443 ; p= ,008) and hand length values (r= -,429 ; p= ,010) (p<0. 05) and there was no significant correlation between the sitting height values (r= -,196; p= ,260) (p>0,05). There was no significant relationship between 50 m freestyle swimming speed and visual selective reaction time (p>0.05). 50 m freestyle swimming speed had a negative correlation (r= -,453; p= ,006) (p<0,05), whereas there was no significant correlation (p>0,05) between single foot (left and right foot) balance values. 50 m swimming speed was negatively correlated with vertical jump (r= -,450 ; p= ,007), right hand grip strength (r= -,340 ; p= ,029) and left hand grip strength (r= -,439 ; p= ,008) (p<0.05), while there was no significant correlation between horizontal jump values (p>0.05). In conclusion, it is understood that some anthropometric, motoric characteristics and dynamic balance skills play a determinant role on swimming performance at short distances such as 50 m in freestyle in 8-12 years old children. It is recommended that the results of this study should be taken into consideration by coaches and used in talent selection and training planning due to its positive effect on swimming performance.