Reliability, accuracy and ecological validity of a wireless pressure sensor for swimming performance analysis
Author(s)
Vittorio Coloretti
Russo, Gabriele
Sandro Bartolomei
Silvia Fantozzi
Matteo Cortesi
Date Issued
2025
Type
article
Volume
28
Issue
32
Start Page
28
End Page
32
Journal
Abstract
Pressure measurements are a valuable approach to evaluate swimming performance. However, the traditional cabled pressure
devices could affect the swimming technique. In this study, the performances of a wireless and wearable pressure sensor were
investigated in terms of i) reliability and accuracy, comparing hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures with the theoretical
ones, ii) ecological validity, comparing performance when wearing or not sensors in free-swimming. Excellent test–retest,
intra-, and inter-sensor reliability were observed for both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressures (ICC ≥ 0.96) with low
bias (MAE ≤ 0.1 kPa, RMSE ≤ 0.11 kPa) compared to theoretical ones. Free-swimming was affected by wearing or not the
sensors with a significative reduction in terms of velocity (0.04 ms−1, p < 0.001) and stroke length (0.03 m, p < 0.05) but not
stroke rate (p
=
0.148). The wireless pressure sensor can measure the actual pressure in the aquatic environment with high
accuracy and reliability, providing an ecological approach for monitoring hand pressure in swimming.
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