Velocimetry is an indirect method that may be used to evaluate swimmers' performance and determine anaerobic fatigue thresholds related to metabolic needs. However, how training changes the performance monitored through anaerobic fatigue thresholds is still unknown. This study aimed to assess changes in anaerobic performance and anaerobic fatigue thresholds, determined through the velocimetry method, imposed by a training macrocycle. Thirteen swimmers (six males and seven females) performed a 200 m maximum and an all-out 50 m front crawl sprint before and after a six-month macrocycle. In the 50 m, the swimmers' waists were connected to a speedometer through a cable for instantaneous velocity measurement. The anaerobic fatigue threshold was determined through wavelets analysis of frequencies using a MatLab routine. A video camera was placed in the pool deck for sagittal image recording. Rest and post-effort blood lactate concentrations were measured by dry chemistry and ear-lob puncture. A Student t-test was computed to assess pre and post-test differences (p.0.05). Results showed a decrease of |~2s in the 50m performance time after the macrocycle and a lactate increase of ~2 mmol.l-1, suggesting an improvement in the total metabolic anaerobic contribution. However, the fatigue threshold remained statistically unchanged with training (18.23±6.35 vs 16.38±4.98s, p>0.05). It can be concluded that anaerobic fatigue thresholds may not be good indicators of swimmers' anaerobic performnce after a long training period.
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