Hellard, P., Dekerle, J., Nesi, X., Toussaint, J. F., Houel, N., & Hausswirth, C. (2010). Ventilatory and biomechanical response analysis in short vs. long interval training sessions in elite long distance swimmers. A paper presented at the XIth International Symposium for Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming, Oslo, June 16–19, 2010.

This study evaluated the extent of the slow-component of oxygen uptake in high-level male long-distance swimmers (N = 7; ~21.4 years) performing long interval training repetitions at the lactate threshold. Ss performed a 6 x 300 m incremental swimming exercise to exhaustion in order to determine lactate threshold and the velocity at that level. The parameters of kinetics were calculated for the first 500 m of one interval training set: 6 x 500-m using a double exponential model.

The fit for the two-term exponential model was (r2 = 0.62). All Ss displayed a slow-component of oxygen uptake during the first 500 m of the set.

Implication. Elite Long-distance swimmers exhibit exceptionally high levels of peak oxygen uptake and peak swimming velocity at the lactate threshold and a large amplitude slow-component of oxygen uptake. When a long task is to be completed, the slow-component of oxygen uptake is relevant. However, long-tasks are not single-effort maximal pool swims where the fast-component predominates.

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