Purpose Our purpose was to characterize the oxygen uptake (VO2) kinetics, assess the energy systems contributions and determine the energy cost when swimming front crawl at extreme intensity. Complementarily, we compared swimming full body with upper body only. Methods Seventeen swimmers performed a 100 m maximal front crawl in two conditions: once swimming with full body and other using only the upper propulsive segments. The VO2 was continuously measured using a telemetric portable gas analyser (connected to a respiratory snorkel), and the capillary blood samples for lactate concentration analysis were collected. Results A sudden increase in VO2 in the beginning of exercise, which continuously rose until the end of the bout (time: 63.82 ± 3.38 s; VO2peak : 56.07 ± 5.19 ml/min kg; VO2 amplitude: 41.88 ± 4.74 ml/min kg; time constant: 12.73 ± 3.09 s), was observed. Aerobic, anaerobic lactic and alactic pathways were estimated and accounted for 43.4, 33.1 and 23.5 % of energy contribution and 1.16 ± 0.10 kJ/m was the energy cost. Complementarily, the absence of lower limbs lead to a longer time to cover 100 m (71.96 ± 5.13 s), slower VO2 kinetics, lower aerobic and anaerobic (lactic and alactic) energy production and lower energy cost. Conclusion Despite the short duration of the event, the aerobic energy contribution covers about 50 % of total metabolic energy liberation, highlighting that both aerobic and anaerobic energy processes should be developed to improve the 100 m swimming performance. Lower limbs action provided an important contribution in the energy availability in working muscles being advised its full use in this short duration and very high-intensity event.
© Copyright 2015 European Journal of Applied Physiology. Springer. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.