Effects of 8-Week Core Exercises on Free Style Swimming Performance of Female Swimmers Aged 9-12 - Abstract

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi

Study evaluates how 8-week core exercises performed before routine training influence physical and motor attributes and freestyle swimming performance in female swimmers aged 9–12. A core exercise group of 12 licensed swimmers with a 3-year Van city swimming background trained five days per week with standard sessions plus 20 minutes of low-intensity, fixed-duration, repetitive core work, while 12 swimmers formed a control group with regular training only. Measurements at baseline and after 8 weeks were analyzed using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests, indicating non-significant improvements yet attributing a 1–2 second decrease in 25 m and 50 m freestyle rankings to core training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time10 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Method

Findings

Conclusion

References

Asian Journal of Education and Training Vol. 4, No. 3, 182-185, 2018 ISSN (E) 2519-5387 DOI: 10.20448/journal.522.2018.43.182.185 Effects of 8-Week Core Exercises on Free Style Swimming Performance of Female Swimmers Aged 9-12 Yıldırım Gökhan GENCER 1 1 Yuzuncu Yil University, School of Physical Education and Sports, Van/Turkey Abstract With this study, it is aimed to review the effects of 8-week core exercises, which are scheduled before the routine exercises, on changes over certain physical and motoric attributes and freestyle swimming performance of female athletes of the youngest age group, which is 9-12. For the study, a group of 12 female licensed swimmers who had a swimming background of 3 years in city of Van is chosen to be core exercise group (CEG) and set as experimental group. And 12 female swimmers are chosen to be in control group. The athletes are scheduled to perform regular swimming exercises for competition, five days a week and for approximately 90 minutes per day. In addition to control group, CEG is scheduled to perform 20 minutes of low intensity, fixed duration and repetitive core exercises before every routine exercise for 8 weeks. Chosen measurements are obtained from the athletes both at the beginning and after 8 weeks and the change between pretest and posttest values is evaluated. For the statistical data analysis, nonparametric tests of Wilcoxon and Mann Whitney U tests are used. As a results of the study, the group of swimmers aged 9-12 who underwent 8 weeks of low intensity core exercises showed differences compared to pretest and posttest values of control group, even though not statistically significant (p>0,05) . As a result, compared to the control group, a 1-2 seconds of decrease – especially when it is a very important amount for this sport – in 25 m and 50 m free style swimming ranks is attributed to the effect of core exercises, and it is reckoned that low intensity core exercises may positively affect the free style swimming performance of female swimmers aged 9-12. Keywords: Freestyle, Swimming, Core training. Funding: This study received no specific financial support. Competing Interests: The author declares that there are no conflicts of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Transparency: The authors confirm that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study was reported; that no vital features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. Ethical: This study follows all ethical practices during writing. Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................................... 183 2. Method ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 183 3. Findings ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 184 4. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 185 References ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 185 1. Introduction Swimming, which has ever-increasing popularity, is a sports branch of high demand in Olympic games and international championships. Swimming enables symmetrical and balanced development of human muscles and it ensures that 80% of the muscle mass is being used when in water. For this reason, it could be said that an athlete

FAQs

What was the purpose of this study?

To examine the effects of 8-week core exercises performed before routine training on physical and motor attributes and freestyle swimming performance in female swimmers aged 9–12.

How were the core exercise and control groups trained?

Both groups trained regular swimming exercises five days a week for about 90 minutes per day. The core exercise group added 20 minutes of low-intensity, fixed-duration, repetitive core exercises before each routine session for eight weeks.

What statistical methods were used to analyze results?

Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U nonparametric tests were used to analyze changes between pretest and posttest values.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi