Peaking for the Olympic Games. An Integrated Approach Developed With the French National Swimming Team for Paris 2024

Abstract

Bosquet, L, Bretonneau, Q, Pla, R, Vachon, A, and Morales-Artacho, A. Peaking for the Olympic games: an integrated approach developed with the French national swimming team for Paris 2024. J Strength Cond Res 38(11): 1981-1986, 2024-In energy-dominant disciplines, such as swimming, performance depends largely on the difference between the levels of fatigue and physical fitness: the greater this difference, the higher the probability of reaching a peak performance. The main challenge before major events such as the Olympic games is therefore in identifying the most efficient strategies to reduce the fatigue accumulated during previous mesocycles, while maintaining, or even improving the level of physical fitness. The most widespread strategy relies in the manipulation of training load parameters. This is the taper period, which has been shown to improve performance by ≈2% in elite athletes. However, tapering may not be sufficient for the most tired athletes. In this case, the strategy commonly used consists in combining the manipulation of training load with the implementation of recovery methods. Regardless of the strategy, we perceive that the challenge for athletes, coaches, and sport scientists is to estimate the level of cumulative fatigue as precisely as possible to individualize the recommendations. This relies not only on the identification of valid markers but also on the ability to interpret their variations over time. The objective of this article is to present the method initially developed in a European champion professional rugby team and now implemented with the French swimming team as part of its preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. More specifically, this article provides some details about the conception of the monitoring dashboard, and the method used to interpret changes over time to categorize the level of fatigue.