The ability of young competitive swimmers to produce explosive lower body force is related to track start and tumble turn performance during the 100 m freestyle, and practitioners should emphasise the development of these qualities leading into competition. Starts and turns can substantially affect the outcome of swimming events. Starts contribute more to shorter distance events whereas turns become more impactful as race distances increase. In 100 m freestyle event, a start can constitute ~10% of the total race time. Similarly, the difference between a poor and a good turn can be 0.1s, which over time makes the difference between first and last place in a race. It is therefore imperative that swimmers can apply the appropriate force to perform effective starts and turns. For strength and conditioning coaches, it is important to understand which trainable qualities can provide the greatest value and transfer to a swimmer`s ability to perform effective starts and turns. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate which dry-land vertical jumping variables were associated with superior start and turn performance in young swimmers.
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