Evolution of Documents Related to Strength Training Research on Competitive Swimmers: A Bibliometric Review

Tiago Ferrão Venâncio^1,2,3,4*Mário J Costa^5,6Catarina C Santos^7,8Nuno Miguel Batalha^10,9Víctor Hernández-Beltrán³José M. Gamonales^11,3Mário Cunha Espada^10,12,13,2,4

• ¹Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal
• ²Sport Physical Activity and Health Research and Innovation Center, College of Education of Coimbra, Rio Maior, Santarém, Portugal
• ³Group of Optimization of the Training and the Sport Performance, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain
• ⁴Quality of Life Research Center (CIEQV), Santarém, Portugal
• ⁵Center of Research, Training, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Porto, Porto, Portugal
• ⁶Porto Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
• ⁷Higher Education School (ESEC), Coimbra, Portugal
• ⁸Department of Sports Science, Exercise and Health, School of Science and Technology, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
• ⁹Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Évora, Portugal
• ¹⁰Comprehensive Health Research Centre, University of Evora, Évora, Portugal
• ¹¹Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
• ¹²Escola Superior de Educação, Instituto Politecnico de Setubal (IPS), Setúbal, Portugal
• ¹³Faculty of Human Motricity, Unit of Education, Training, Research and Development, Institute of Education, University of Lisbon, Dafundo, Portugal

Background: The purpose of this study is to conduct a bibliometric and scoping review to map the evolution of scientific literature on strength training in competitive swimmers.Methods: Web of Science database was used considering the time frame between 1980 and 2024. The following terms were used to search documents: “swimmers”, “strength”, and “training”. A total of 460 documents were included for statistical analysisResults: Until 2000, fewer than 5 manuscripts were published annually, and only after 2011 did the number regularly exceed 20, peaking in 2021 with 43 publications. Among the top 10 authors, 7 are Portuguese, each with at least 7 published papers. A total of 726 institutions were identified, with 29 having published at least 5 studies. The “Universidade da Beira Interior” had the most publications (20), while the “University of Copenhagen” received the most citations (619) with just 3 papers. Sixty countries contributed overall, with 10 publishing at least 20 documents; the United States of America led with 83. The most prominent keywords over time were “sports performance,” “speed,” and “swimming performance.”Conclusions: These results highlight that bibliometric analysis provides pertinent information, very useful regarding research trends and networks, aiming for future research on the topic of strength in swimmers.