This study involved extensive testing of swimmers at four 25 m Italian Championship and "European Cup" meets. Lactates were taken 5 min after event completion. Relationships also were determined for crawl stroke events between: - Two 400 m repetitions at constant speeds separated by a 20 min rest period, at 85% and 100% of maximum speed. The speed equivalent to 4 mM was interpolated between the measures and deemed to be the criterion of aerobic capacity (V4). - Best time in crawlstroke races. Implications: 1. The few and often inconsistent differences between events, sex groups, and submaximal performances suggest that La is not a particularly valuable index of swimming work. The authors conclude that the only notable finding of the study was the high relationship between the post-event submaximal swims and the extrapolated event speed. It would be interesting to determine such a relationship if the submaximal performances were conducted prior to competitions rather than after. 2. La values in competitions are not particularly sensitive to the demands of events. In general, 800 and 1500 m events differ to the majority of other events in terms of the level of La demonstrated 5 min after the completion of races. 3. One should be wary of placing much emphasis on La recordings associated with swimming training or competitive performances.
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