Relationship Between Oxygen Uptake, Stroke Rate and Swimming Velocity in Competitive Swimming

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between oxygen demand, stroke rate and swimming velocity in competitive swimmers. The subjects who volunteered for this study were ten trained male swimmers (age, 16.7 +/- 0.4 yrs). VO2peak, swimming velocities at 80% (V80% VO2peak) and 100% (V100% VO2peak) of VO2peak and swimming velocity at the onset of blood lactate accumulation (VOBLA) were determined during a swimming economy profile test in a swimming flume. In the swimming economy test, determined by studying the relationship between oxygen uptake and swimming velocity cubed, the subjects were instructed to swim for six minutes at five or six submaximal swimming velocities. Steady-state oxygen uptake and stroke rate were calculated during the final two minutes of swimming. Results indicated that there were significant correlations between oxygen uptake and swimming velocity cubed (r = 0.963 to 0.998, p < 0.01), between oxygen uptake and stroke rate (r = 0.925 to 0.998, p < 0.01) and between stroke rate and swimming velocity cubed (r = 0.897, p < 0.05; to 0.994, p < 0.01) for all subjects. Furthermore, it was found that the slopes of the regression lines between oxygen uptake and swimming velocity cubed and between oxygen demand and stroke rate were significantly correlated to swimming performance indices (V80% VO2peak, V100% VO2peak and VOBLA). The results of this study suggest that the slope of the regression line between oxygen uptake and stroke rate can be utilized as an effective index of evaluating swimming performance.

Determinants of the energy cost of front-crawl swimming in children

“…SF increased with velocity, in contrast to the case for SL, which remained constant. This result confirmed those of previous studies (Holmer (1974;Klentrou and Montpetit (1992;Wakayoshi et al (1995) in which it was demonstrated that SF increased with velocity. Despite the fact that the increase in SF was certainly associated with an increase in muscular activities, in the present study no correlation was found between the swimmers' Cs and stroke parameters such as SL and SF, regardless of the velocity.…”

“…For a given velocity, the lower Cs was not linked to a lower SL or SF. Similar observations were made by Wakayoshi et al (1995), who concluded that subjects with a greater SL did not spend necessarily less metabolic power. It could be assumed that in swimming as well as in running, each subject chose the optimal SF to minimise the energy expenditure and/or to optimise the performance according to his muscular and anthropometric characteristics (Craig and Pendergast 1979;Kaneko et al 1987).…”

“…Most of the biomechanical studies that have been carried out have concerned the relationship between stroke frequency (SF), stroke length (SL) and swimming performance (Craig and Pendergast 1979;Wakayoshi et al 1995). Many authors have studied the parameters that influenced the energy cost of swimming (Cs) in adults.…”

Factors affecting swimming economy in children and adults

“…It has been empirically demonstrated that energy expenditure in swimming increases with the swimming velocity cubed (Wakayoshi et al 1995). Theoretically, the mechanical work done to overcome drag by the swimmer per unit of time equals A d ·v, and given that A d =k Ad ·v 2 the swimming intensity should be proportional to k Ad ·v 3 .…”

“…Stroke length has been shown to be a major factor determining maximal or submaximal performance in swimming (Keskinen et al 1989;Wakayoshi et al 1995).…”