Investigating the Effects of Ischemic Preconditioning on 500-Yard Swimming Performance — 25p — Meesha Montgomery, Hailey Scholten

PURPOSE: Swimming is a globally popular sport, with races often decided by mere hundredths of a second, making marginal performance improvements crucial. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC), a non-invasive method shown to enhance force output and reduce time in short-distance swimming, holds potential benefits for longer events. IPC may improve performance through mechanisms like increased nitric oxide production, enhanced blood flow, and improved muscle oxygenation. This study aimed to evaluate IPC’s efficacy in a 500-yard swimming event, addressing a gap in current research focused primarily on shorter distances. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial recruited 15 NCAA Division 2 swimmers using a crossover design, where participants underwent both a 1-minute sham condition and a 5-minute IPC intervention, with performance measured in timed 500-yard short course pool. RESULTS: 14 participants completed the study with 11 of 14 demonstrating improved swim time with IPC. The average swim time for IPC was 337.90 ± 23.34 seconds, compared to 339.62 ± 21.80 seconds for the sham condition. The 1.72-second average improvement was not statistically significant (p = 0.19) CONCLUSION: This research showed a small performance improvement in a majority of participants but lacked statistical significance. Despite the small improvement time of 1.72-seconds on average, 1.8-seconds separated 4th place from 2nd place in the NSIC Division 2 Women’s Conference Championships.  This is the first investigation to assess IPC’s applicability to longer swim distances, providing valuable insights for coaches and athletes seeking to optimize training interventions and improve athletic performance. With the assumed small effect size, it would be valuable to collect data within the athletes competition period. These findings are encouraging as a promising method to improve athletic performance in endurance sports.

Augustana University
Dr. Shane Scholten