2021 Volume 34 Issue 2 Pages 107-114
Artistic Swimming (AS) is a sport which swimmers need to hold breath often during performance. Few studies have focused on respiratory function in artistic swimmers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of respiratory function in AS technical routine (TR) and to explore which exercises are effective in improving athletic performance. Six artistic swimmers, including members of Japan national team were participated in this study. Maximum expiratory mouth pressure (PEmax), maximum inspiratory mouth pressure (PImax), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), and blood lactate concentration were measured at pre and post TR and 200M all-out front crawl swimming (200M). Also, the rating of perceived dyspnea (RPD) was measured after each swim test. The heart rate was measured throughout the test and was calculated as a percentage of heart rate reserve (％HRreserve) for analysis. In TR, ％HRreserve during test and blood lactate concentrations at post were significantly lower than that in 200M. However, the PImax value in post TR was significantly lower than that in post 200M. The rate of change in PImax in post TR was significantly larger, and absolute value was significantly lower than that in post 200M. In conclusion, TR was shown to be more demanding on the respiratory function of trained AS athletes than 200M. Our results suggest that it is important for artistic swimmers to strengthen their respiratory function in order to improve their performance.
