Relationship between Critical Speed and Endurance Capacity in Young Swimmers: Effect of Gender and Age

Abstract

This study analyzed the relationship between critical speed (CS) and maximal speed for 30 min (S30) in swimmers of ages 10-15 years. Fifty-one swimmers were divided by chronological age (10-12 years = G10-12, 13-15 years = G13-15), sexual maturation (pubic hair stages; P1-P3 and P4-P5), and gender (M = boys, F = girls). The CS was determined through the slope of the linear regression between the distances (100, 200, and 400 m) and participants’ respective times. CS and S30 were similar in the younger (G10-12M = 0.97 vs. 0.97 m/s, and G10-12F = 1.01 vs. 0.97 m/s, respectively), and older swimmers (G13-15M = 1.10 vs. 1.07 m/s and G13-15F = 0.93 vs. 0.91 m/s, respectively). In conclusion, the CS can be used in young swimmers for the evaluation of aerobic capacity, independent of gender and age.

Preliminary Attempt to Develop a Path-Flow Analysis Model for Swimming Performance in Children~!2009-07-05~!2009-11-09~!2010-04-01~!

“…Mean data values are somewhat within the range of values reported in the literature for swimmers with similar chronological age and gender (e.g. [7][8][9]). Data dispersion, expressed as 1SD, was moderate-high for almost every variable.…”

Gender and distance influence performance predictors in young swimmers

“…This was also demonstrated by Vitor and Böhme (2010) using only CS (R 2 =0.34 for S100), highlighting this method as an easy and non-invasive manner of aerobic capacity evaluation (Greco & Denadai, 2005;Toubekis et al, 2011).…”

“…Other studies also demonstrated better performance and higher physiological and biomechanical parameter values in males than in females but higher fat mass in females than in males (Geladas et al, 2005;Greco & Denadai, 2005;Saavedra et al, 2010;Zuniga et al, 2011); however the differences in performance predictors between genders are not totally clear.…”

“…In particular, anaerobic threshold can be directly or indirectly determined by the lactate minimum (LM) protocol or critical speed (CS), respectively (Greco & Denadai, 2005;Ribeiro, Balikian, Malachias, & Baldissera, 2003;Toubekis, Tsami, Smilios, Douda, & Tokmakidis, 2011;Zacca et al, 2010), and greatly influences the performance of adult or young athletes, with an explanatory power of up to 97% (Altimari, Altimari, Gulak, & Chacon-Mikahil, 2007). However, the physiological maturity during puberty and gender-specific maturation process lead to marked changes in this parameter in children and adolescents Greco & Denadai, 2005;.…”

Esforço percebido durante o treinamento intervalado na natação em intensidades abaixo e acima da velocidade crítica

“…A piscina em que o estudo foi conduzido tinha 25 m de comprimento. As distâncias utilizadas para os testes foram de 100, 200 e 400 m (11,16) . Houve aleatoriedade na ordem de imposição dos testes, os quais foram aplicados em dias diferentes, e individualmente.…”