López-Plaza, DanielQuero-Calero, Carmen DanielaAlacid, FernandoAbellán-Aynés, Oriol2024-07-032024-07-032023López-Plaza, D., Quero-Calero, C. D., Alacid, F., Abellán-Aynés, O. (2023) Stroke steadiness as a determinant factor of performance in 100 m freestyle in young swimmers. Sports, 12(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports12040107.2075-466310.3390/sports12040107https://academica-e.unavarra.es/handle/2454/50247The classical kinematic variables in swimming are based on the calculation of mean values. Stroke steadiness determines the relationship between the duration of all consecutive strokes throughout a test. The aims of the current investigation were to examine differences in stroke-to-stroke steadiness according to swimmers’ performance level on both body sides (breathing and non-breathing) and to analyse the interrelationship with kinematics during a 100 m front-crawl test. Thirty-two young, experienced swimmers voluntarily participated in the present study and were divided into two groups, national level (n = 15) and local level (n = 17), according to their competitive status within the national age-rankings. All participants performed a 100 m maximal test in a 50 m pool where they were laterally recorded. Kinematic variables such as mean velocity, stroke rate, stroke length, and stroke index, as well as long-term steadiness and short-term steadiness, were calculated. The two 50 m sections were analysed independently. Significant differences were observed between the two groups in the classical kinematic variables and in stroke steadiness (p < 0.05). In addition, stroke steadiness showed moderately high correlations with velocity (r = [−0.61–(−0.749)]) and stroke index (r = [−0.356–(−0.582)]). Maintaining a more stable inter-stroke period appears to be a determinant of performance in young, high-level national swimmers.application/pdfeng© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.BiomechanicsKinematicsPerformanceVariabilityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/article2024-07-03info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess