An investigation into sleep patterns and the effect of time of day on performance in youth swimmers

The purpose of this study was to investigate sleep patterns in competitive youth swimmers and to establish any time-of-day effect on physiological and psychological variables linked to swimming performance. Twelve swimmers (14.8 ± 2.1 years) underwent physiological and psychological tests in morning and evening and completed sleep diaries over a 2-week period. There was a non-significant effect between morning and evening swimming performance for 800 m (p = 0.068) and 50 m (p = 0.306). Handgrip strength was significantly greater in evening (p = 0.007), back and leg strength were significantly greater in morning (p = 0.013). There was no time-of-day effect for jump height (p = 0.756). The profile of mood states indicated significantly higher anger (p = 0.012) and vigour (p = 0.000) in the morning. Swimming performance was not significantly affected by time of day; however, physiological variables showed varied results. Multiple factors could be influencing results including training time and mood state so should be monitored closely by coaches.