To analyse my performance in swimming, it was important to gather information on my fitness levels by testing within and outwith the activity.
I first analysed my performance within the activity by doing timed swims over 20m, 80m and 200m. I was able to compare my scores from these and could compare my results to the class average. My results showed I was perfroming poorer in the longer distance swimming, suggesting stamina may be a weakness.
To obtain more specific data relating to my stamina I did a T15 swim. It involves swimming continually for 15 minutes and trying to swim as far as possible.
My partner counted my total number of metres swum and also split the swim into 40m intervals. For each 40m my partner recorded my split time, my breath count (total number of breaths taken for 40m) and my stoke count (total number of stroke cycles for 40m). I also recorded my pulse before, immediately after and at 1 min intervals after completing the test.
Below is an example of some of my 80m split times from various stages of my test.
Distance Split Time Cumulative Time Breath Count Stroke Count
0-40m 55s 55s 9 20
120-160m 57s 3m45s 9 20
280-320m 1m15s 9m00s 11 23
360-400m 1m30s 15m00s 14 26
Total distance swum 400m (20 lengths)
Pulse before test (resting pulse) – 75 bpm
Pulse on completion – 180 bpm
Pulse after 1 min – 160 bpm
Pulse after 2 mins – 125bpm
Pulse after 3 mins – 80bpm
From my analysis I was able to compare data to that of the class average. The average distance swum was 560m which I was well below, suggesting my overall stamina was a weakness.
My stroke count increased significantly after about 4 minutes of the test, which I believe was down to poor muscular endurance in my arms. As I became tired, my stroke became less efficient resulting in me needing to take more stokes to complete each 40m.
Also my breath count increased significantly after about 4 minutes of the test, suggesting that my heart and lungs were not supplying oxygen sufficiently to the working muscles.
These results suggested my cardio-respiratory endurance and muscular endurance were a weakness and significantly impacted on my performance in the T-15.
Another possibility is that poor technique was a limiting factor in my performance but from verbal feedback from my partner I believed my technique was efficient at the start of the test and only deteriorated as the test progressed.
To confirm my belief that stamina was my main weakness and limiting factor to performance, rather than my technique, I had to do land-based tests outwith the activity of swimming which removed stroke technique as a limiting factor in my performance.
I did a Leger Test for cardio-respiratory endurance and the 1 minute press up test for muscular endurance in the arms.
The Leger Test involved running 20m shuttles on a beep cue from a tape which get progressively faster. The test ends I fail to make the line twice in a row or I am physically unable to continue. The amount of shuttles I complete is my score for the test.
The 1 minute press up involves doing as many press ups as I can in a 30s interval. The number of press ups completed is my score.
For the Leger Test I scored 40, well below the class average of 65 and for the press up test I scored 21, again well below the average of 35. These results confirmed my findings from the T-15 that my muscular endurance and cardio-respiratory endurance were below average and weaknesses which affected my performance.
