Researchers asked 26 college swimmers to swim 200m freestyles under different conditions in order to test if swimming with music helps swimmers go faster.

In a study entitled Psychological, psychophysical, and ergogenic effects of music in swimming published in the July issue of Psychology of Sport and Exericse, Jasmin Hutchinson and her colleagues asked the male swimmers between the ages of 18 and 23 years to get accustomed to wearing a Speedo Aquabeat MP3 player before doing two experimental time trials (with and without music).

Participants swam significantly faster with music.

The research concluded, “Findings supported the hypothesis that the use of asynchronous music during a high-intensity task can have an ergogenic effect; this was in the order of 2% when averaged out across the two experimental conditions. The use of music, regardless of its motivational qualities, resulted in higher self-reported motivation as well as more dissociative thoughts.”

It is common knowledge among open water swimmers that many of them sing to themselves on long training swims or even in competitions or solo swims. So while the Speedo Aquabeat MP3 Player may not be affixed to their goggles, they are still swimming to the beat.

Copyright © 2013 by Open Water Swimming