Objective The aim of this study was to determine whether VO2 kinetics and specifically, the time constant of transitions from rest to heavy (TpH) and severe (TpS) exercise intensities, are related to middle distance swimming performance. Design Fourteen highly trained male swimmers (mean ± SD: 20.5 ± 3.0 yr; 75.4 ± 12.4 kg; 1.80 ± 0.07 m) performed an discontinuous incremental test, as well as square wave transitions for heavy and severe swimming intensities, to determine VO2 kinetics parameters using two exponential functions. Methods All the tests involved front-crawl swimming with breath-by-breath analysis using the Aquatrainer swimming snorkel. Endurance performance was recorded as the time taken to complete a 400 m freestyle swim within an official competition (T400), one month from the date of the other tests. Results T400 (Mean ± SD) (251.4 ± 12.4 s) was significantly correlated with TpH (15.8 ± 4.8 s; r = 0.62; p = 0.02) and TpS (15.8 ± 4.7 s; r = 0.61; p = 0.02). The best single predictor of 400 m freestyle time, out of the variables that were assessed, was the velocity at VO2max, which accounted for 80% of the variation in performance between swimmers. However, TpH and VO2max were also found to influence the prediction of T400 when they were included in a regression model that involved respiratory parameters only. Conclusions Faster kinetics during the primary phase of the VO2max response is associated with better performance during middle-distance swimming. However, dVO2max appears to be a better predictor of T400.
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