{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T05:45:30Z","timestamp":1785908730217,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785888000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Aquatic plyometric training (APT) may improve explosive performance while reducing impact loading; however, the extent to which immersion depth influences transfer to swimming-specific start and turn performance remains unclear. This exploratory randomized study compared depth-specific responses to 8 weeks of additional aquatic plyometric-style training performed at different immersion depths in collegiate male swimmers who maintained regular swim training.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Thirty collegiate male swimmers were randomized to shallow (knee\/patella), mid-depth (waist\/umbilicus), or deep (xiphoid\/chest) APT groups. Participants completed two APT sessions per week for 8 weeks while maintaining regular swim training. Countermovement jump, squat jump, 15-m start time, turn 5-m in time, wall contact time, and turn 5-m out time were assessed before and after the intervention using high-speed video. Three trials were averaged for each outcome. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test group-by-time interactions, and within-rater reliability was assessed in a subsample of 10 participants.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Significant group-by-time interactions were observed for countermovement jump (p = 0.033), squat jump (p = 0.009), 15-m start time (p &amp;lt;0.001), and wall contact time (p = 0.016), indicating depth-dependent patterns of change. All groups showed favorable within-group changes in countermovement jump, squat jump, and 15-m start time, with the largest mean changes generally observed in the mid-depth group. Turn 5-m out time improved within groups, but the group-by-time interaction did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.095). No significant interaction was observed for turn 5-m in time (p = 0.457). Video-derived outcomes showed excellent within-rater reliability (ICC\u00a0=\u00a00.991-0.997; CV\u00a0=\u00a00.19%-1.40%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In collegiate male swimmers who maintained regular swim training, 8 weeks of additional APT was associated with favorable changes in lower-limb explosive performance and selected race-section metrics. Immersion depth appeared to influence the magnitude of adaptation, with the mid-depth condition showing larger mean changes in several outcomes, particularly compared with deep immersion, whereas differences between mid-depth and shallow immersion were less consistent. These findings should be interpreted as depth-specific responses to additional aquatic plyometric-style training performed alongside regular swim training, rather than as definitive evidence that APT alone caused the observed changes or is superior to other training approaches.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2026.1880612","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]],"date-time":"2026-08-05T04:54:45Z","timestamp":1785905685000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Depth-specific responses to 8-week additional aquatic plyometric training on explosive performance and start-turn metrics in collegiate male swimmers"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mian","family":"Xu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education, Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minyue","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Education, Nanjing Medical University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junsheng","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Shandong Normal University","place":["Jinan, Shandong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minyu","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Physical Education, Jiangsu Second Normal University","place":["Nanjing, Jiangsu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.3390\/sports4010015","article-title":"Type of ground surface during plyometric training affects the severity of exercise-induced muscle damage","volume":"4","author":"Arazi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Sports (Basel)."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"484","DOI":"10.1080\/14763141.2021.1872693","article-title":"Start and turn performances of elite male swimmers: benchmarks and underlying mechanisms","volume":"23","author":"Born","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sports Biomech."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/fspor.2022.936695","article-title":"Improving tumble turn performance in swimming\u2014the impact of wall contact time and tuck index","volume":"4","author":"David","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. 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