This study aimed to characterize the oxygen uptake (VO2) kinetics during 100 and 400 m maximal swims in a group of elite athletes. METHODS Fourteen elite competitive swimmers aged 16-23 years (10 males; 4 females), performed two swims (100 and 400 m freestyle) at maximal speed. In both tests they breathed through the new respiratory snorkel connected to a BxB telemetric portable gas analyzer (K4 b2, Cosmed, Italy). VO2 data were averaged every 5 s and fitted to mono-exponential functions (iterative Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm). Unpaired t-test (or Mann-Whitney test) was used for inter-group comparisons. Correlation was tested using the Pearson coefficient (r). RESULTS In the whole group, peak VO2 significantly correlated with swimming speed (p < .05) both in 100 m (r = .787) and 400 m (r = .752), but the time constant (t) did not. VO2 kinetics was faster during the 100-m as compared with the 400-m swim (p = .01). No differences were observed in any of the parameters between male sprinters and non-sprinters. DISCUSSION The procedure using the respiratory snorkel and portable gas analyzer has proven to be a feasible method for analyzing VO2 kinetics during free swimming. The data clearly showed that VO2 kinetics depends on the swimming intensity, the response being faster in 100 m. VO2peak showed to be a good predictor of swimming performance in 100 and 400 m. Further investigation is needed to better define VO2 kinetics in different groups of swimmers.
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