Measurements of ensemble-averaged axial and swirl velocities and the rms of the corresponding fluctuations obtained by laser-Doppler anemometry, are reported for the axisymmetric swirling flow in a four-stroke model engine motored at 200 rpm with a compression ratio of 3.5. A centrally located valve, incorporating a 60 degree seat angle and 30 degree swirl vanes resulting in a swirl number of 1.2, was used to draw in and exhaust seeded air. The piston-head configurations included a flat surface and a cylindrical bowl with and without a lip. Comparison of the results with those obtained previously, with a flat piston in the absence of compression, shows that the mean and rms profiles during the intake stroke are similar. In the axial plane a system of vortices is created which has almost disappeared by the time the inlet valve closes with a small vortex existing near the cylinder head at the early part of compression; later on this vortex breaks up and the mean velocities tend to become uniform. The intake generated turbulence decays gradually until the inlet valve closes; it then becomes uniform and remains constant in magnitude for the rest of the compression stroke. The mean swirl flow has a spiralling nature during intake but tends towards solid body rotation during compression with associated turbulence levels of similar magnitude to the axial ones. During the expansion stroke the rms velocities decrease further until the exhaust valve opens and new turbulence is generated. The influence of the piston bowl is generally small but the addition of a lip results, during the compression stroke, in inward movement of the air towards the bowl as the piston approaches TDC. The reverse squish effect, observed during the expansion stroke and due to the outgoing motion of the entrapped air inside the bowl, results in significant reversed velocities near the axis and increase in the turbulence levels close to the piston.