--- title: "Swimming warm up before a race: why is the block so long?" description: "Swimming warm up before a race raises muscle temperature and prepares the body for its first hard effort. The programme sets the block. The coach decides your swimmer's warm-up volume and timing." url: "https://swimtrack.ai/blog/warm-up-what-its-for/" lang: "en" author: "SwimTrack" publisher: "SwimTrack" license: "Free to read and quote with attribution to SwimTrack. Not for resale. https://swimtrack.ai/terms/" published: 2026-09-21 pillar: "training-development" audience: "parent" --- # Swimming warm up before a race: why is the block so long? Swimming warm up before a race raises muscle temperature and prepares the body for its first hard effort. The programme sets the block. The coach decides your swimmer's warm-up volume and timing. > **Idea in Brief** > - **Warm-up has its own clock.** ANDL meet programmes set a block of roughly an hour before racing. > - **It prepares the body to race.** The first event is not the body’s first hard effort that day. > - **More is not better.** The amount and timing belong to the coach. At twenty past eight, you’re on the balcony with the programme: *aquecimento*, or warm-up, 08h00 to 09h15; first race, 09h30. Your swimmer’s race may last thirty seconds, yet this long block is a formal part of the meet. Those exact times appear for Pombal in the ANDL calendar for 2025/26. Its afternoon block runs from 14h00 to 15h20, before a 15h30 start. At Benedita, one morning block runs from 08h20 to 09h20, with racing at 09h30. The Pombal meet covers Infantis through Séniores. The 2025 Cadetes trophy in Caldas da Rainha also opened warm-up at 08h15 for a 09h30 start. Where both ends are printed, the blocks last 60 to 80 minutes and close 10 to 15 minutes before racing. Warm-up raises core and muscle temperature. It also increases blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscle cells. That helps muscles contract more efficiently. A 2014 review led by researchers at the University of Beira Interior found the clearest performance benefit in races longer than 200 metres. Studies in swimming were still scarce, and their findings were mixed. The evidence for sprint races is more modest. A 2021 review looked at fourteen studies. Half reported a clear performance gain after a regular warm-up, but the effect on race time was small. Warm-up had a larger effect on the rating of perceived exertion, which means how hard the swim felt afterwards. The effect is supported, but modest. Volume needs judgement too. In one study, eleven national-level male swimmers were slower over 100 metres freestyle after an 1,800-metre warm-up than after 1,200 or 600 metres. The wait afterwards also counts. The 2014 review suggested a gap of 8 to 20 minutes. In another study, ten national-level swimmers completed a 200-metre time trial faster after 10 minutes of passive rest than after 45. The samples were small and made up of trained adults and near-adults. If your swimmer gets back in or moves about later, the coach may be managing that gap. Warm-up has named oversight at the sport’s top level. World Aquatics requires two warm-up supervisors at the Olympic Games and named world championships. They oversee the session and how lanes are used. The coach decides what the swimmer does. A 2016 FPN routine for pré-júnior selection camps shows three dryland phases: raising heart rate and body temperature, dynamic stretching for range of movement, and neural activation. Roughly a kilometre in the water follows. That routine applies only to those federation camps. As [pool-deck etiquette](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/pool-deck-etiquette) explains, the swimmer and coach own this block. --- ### Share it with your swimmer Keep the reason simple and leave the plan with the coach: - **Under 12 (you're driving).** *“The warm-up helps your body get ready for the first race.”* The simple purpose is enough at this age. - **12–15 (sharing the wheel).** *“The programme sets the time, and your coach sets the plan.”* It makes the roles clear. - **16+ (they're driving).** *“Do you need anything from me before you join the team?”* It offers help while leaving preparation with them. ### Stay aligned with your coach The coach decides what goes into warm-up and how the wait before racing is managed. You handle arrival and leave the swimming plan alone. Ask ahead: *“What time does the team need my swimmer ready?”* ### Keep exploring - [Swim meet morning routine to keep breakfast and timing familiar](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/the-morning-of-a-meet) — Keep breakfast, travel and arrival familiar, with time to spare before warm-up. - [Swim parent etiquette: pool deck rules](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/pool-deck-etiquette) — Leave technique and warm-up to the coach while you handle food and warmth. - [First swim meet: what to expect before and between races](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/your-swimmers-first-meet) — Prepare for team warm-up, long waits, food, water and warm clothes. - [Pre race routine in swimming is a trained cue](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/what-a-pre-race-routine-actually-is) — See how a rehearsed cue brings back a practised state of mind. ### Go deeper with the experts - **[Neiva and colleagues on warm-up in competitive swimming](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24178508/)** — the 2014 review, from the University of Beira Interior, behind this article's account of what warm-up does and how long the gap afterwards should be. - **[A systematic review of warm-up and sprint swimming](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34698232/)** — the 2021 review of fourteen studies that measured how small the effect on race time actually is. ## Related reading - [Swim meet morning routine: breakfast, travel and arrival time](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/the-morning-of-a-meet/) - [Swim parent etiquette: pool deck rules](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/pool-deck-etiquette/) - [First swim meet: what to expect before and between races](https://swimtrack.ai/blog/your-swimmers-first-meet/) --- SwimTrack — https://swimtrack.ai HTML version of this page: https://swimtrack.ai/blog/warm-up-what-its-for/