Oxygen uptake kinetics and biological age in relation to pulling force and 400-m front crawl performance in young swimmers

Marek Strzała; Kamil Sokołowski; Łukasz Wądrzyk; Robert Staszkiewicz; Łukasz Kryst; Magdalena Żegleń; Piotr Krężałek; Marcin Maciejczyk

doi:10.3389/fphys.2023.1229007

Oxygen uptake kinetics and biological age in relation to pulling force and 400-m front crawl performance in young swimmers

Front Physiol. 2023 Oct 6:14:1229007. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1229007. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Marek Strzała¹, Kamil Sokołowski¹, Łukasz Wądrzyk¹, Robert Staszkiewicz², Łukasz Kryst³, Magdalena Żegleń⁴, Piotr Krężałek⁵, Marcin Maciejczyk⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Water Sports, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland.
² Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland.
³ Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland.
⁴ Pain Research Group, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Kraków, Poland.
⁵ Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Motor Rehabilitation, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland.
⁶ Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of Physical Education, Kraków, Poland.

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to assess differences in the biological age (BA) of 13-year-old swimmers and show their ability, as biologically younger-late mature or older-early mature, to develop fast 60-s oxygen uptake ( ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ ) kinetics and tethered swimming strength. Furthermore, the interplay between swimming strength, ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ , and 400-m front crawl race performance was examined. Methods: The study involved 36 competitive young male swimmers (metrical age: 12.9 ± 0.56 years). Depending on BA examination, the group was divided into early-mature (BA: 15.8 ± 1.18 years, n = 13) and late-mature (BA: 12.9 ± 0.60 years, n = 23) participants, especially for the purpose of comparing tethered swimming indices, i.e., average values of force (F _ave) and ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ (breath-by-breath analysis) kinetic indices, measured simultaneously in 1-min tethered front crawl swimming. From the 400-m racing stroke rate, stroke length kinematics was retrieved. Results: In the 1-min tethered front crawl test, early-mature swimmers obtained higher results of absolute values of ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ and F _ave. Conversely, when ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ was present relatively to body mass and pulling force (in ml∙min^-1∙kg^-1∙N^-1), late-mature swimmers showed higher $O_{2}$ relative usage. Late-mature swimmers generally exhibited a slower increase in ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ during the first 30 s of 60 s. ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ , F _ave, BA, and basic swimming kinematic stroke length were significantly interrelated and influenced 400-m swimming performance. Conclusion: The 1-min tethered swimming test revealed significant differences in the homogeneous calendar age/heterogeneous BA group of swimmers. These were distinguished by the higher level of ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ kinetics and pulling force in early-mature individuals and lower efficiency per unit of body mass per unit of force aerobic system in late-mature peers. The higher ${\dot{V} O}_{2}$ kinetics and tethered swimming force were further translated into 400-m front crawl speed and stroke length kinematics.

Keywords: aerobic power; front crawl; maturity; oxygen uptake; tethered swimming force.