In brief:Seventeen male collegiate swimmers were studied before, during, and after 14 days of reduced training (tapering). Maximal arm power was measured using a bio- kinetic swim bench and during a tethered (power) swim test, and each swimmer also swam 200 yards (182.9 meters) at an evenly paced velocity corresponding to 90% of his best performance of the season. Tapering had no influence on postexercise acid-base balance, but there was a significant increase (p<.05) in power output on both the biokinetic swim bench and the power swim test. Performance times improved an average of 3.1%. The improvements are in part due to significant gains in muscular power.