Man's physiological response to swimming has, as a whole, been studied in detail (Dixon & Faulkner, 1971; Holmer, 1974; McArdle, Glaser & Magel, 1971), but the majority of these studies have only been conducted on competitive and recreational swimmers. Water polo players and pentathletes also compete in the aquatic medium. Water polo players do not race as such, but they must swim in short, rapid bursts and must stay afloat for long periods of time. Their training involves considerable lower limb activity. Pentathletes participate in a 300-m race as part of their five-event competitive program. They train both on land (running to compete in the 4,000-m race) and in water. The metabolic and circulatory responses during swimming of water polo players and pentathletes may be expected to be different from that of swimmers. Reported here are results of studies carried out to compare the oxygen demand and cardiac responses during freestyle (crawl) swimming at increasing velodties (0.9 to 1.5 m • s-1 ) in pantathletes, water polo players, and swimmers. Also included is the relative importance of V02max and swimming economy (the steady state oxygen demand for a standardized swimming speed) for the prediction of the 300-m performance in swimmers and pentathletes.Deskriptoren
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