Hi, Amadeus! Say, I did a search on the Human Kinetics (
www.humankinetics.com), Speedo (
www.speedo.com) and Kiefer (
www.kiefer.com) websites and came up with precisely nothing in terms of books or videos for cross-training for swimmers. I'm sure there are websites for competitive swimmers that will eventually yield the kind of information you're looking for; maybe a Google search would get you there.
I do know from my father (who announced FSU swim meets for decades and who sired two competitive swimmers - i.e. my now-couch-potato brothers) that swimmers do indeed have to do a lot of cross-training on land to increase their power in the water. I'd have to think that a good machine or free-weight program would be of first importance. I'd also have to think that the strength demands on the lats, shoulders and upper arms would be profound, so it would make sense to target those areas. Also, because most of the competitive strokes are face-up / face down (front crawl, backstroke, butterfly), the strength demands on the hip flexors (including the rectus femoris, which is also part of the quads) and extensors (gluteals; hamstrings)are also profound; thus targeted strengthening in these areas would be important. Also, especially for the butterfly, I would think your sons would need to pay attention to strengthening the core muscles, especially the erector spinae of the lower back.
ALSO, to make sure strength imbalances don't lead to compromised joint function, your sons should also pay attention to training the muscles NOT recruited in swimming. From what I remember about swimming, most of the competitive strokes (not including the breast stroke) occur in what's called the sagittal plane of motion, and the muscles recruited in the frontal and horizontal/ transverse planes of motion (pecs, middle delts, hip abductors {the hip adductors I think are kind of recruited in the breast stroke whip kick) are NOT recruited in swimming. Thus your sons would want to do some targeted strengthening there, as well as rotator cuff work, so that they don't remain overly weak in those areas.
Just a few thoughts from someone who flunked Dog Paddle. I do think a Google search would be your best bet; maybe there's a male Cathe Friedrich counterpart out there in video land that will do the exact same exercises Cathe does - but in a MANLY way!
Hope this helps! See ya tomorrow!
Annette Q. Aquajock
