The effect of training on aerobic and anaerobic critical velocities in young swimmers

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to analyze the aerobic and anaerobic critical velocities in young swimmers throughout a period of 42 weeks of training. The sample comprised twelve swimmers, 8 males and 4 females (mean±SD: 15.6±1.78 years of age, 61.33±7.9 kg of body mass, 1.68±0.09 m of height and 168.25±8.9 kg/m² of body mass index). The performances were assessed in 15m, 25m, 50m and 400m freestyle once a month during all season. To verify the normal distribution was performed Shapiro-Wilk test and a pairedsample t-test was used to analyze the aerobic and anaerobic critical velocities throughout the training period. The results demonstrated significant improvements of aerobic critical velocity at week 35, and at the weeks 21, 35 and 40 for the anaerobic critical velocity. In addition, there seemed to be some negative relationship between aerobic and anaerobic training, since the maximization of one seems to coincide with the low performance level of the other.