The aim of the present study was to verify the use of the 30 minutes velocity (VT-30), stroke rate (SR), stroke length (SL) and stroke index (SI), obtained in T-30 test, as non-invasive methods for trained swimmer's aerobic performance and technical determination. Fourteen swimmers accomplished three efforts along 400 m (85, 90 and 100% of the maximum effort) for anaerobic threshold speed determination (ATS) corresponding to 3.5 mM lactate fixed concentration, as well as a 30 minutes maximal effort (VT-30). SR, SL, and SI were calculated within the 10 m midsection of the swimming pool (clean swim) for T-30 test (SRT-30, SLT-30 and SIT-30) and progressive test. Through the relation between ATS and stroke parameters in progressive test, stroke rate threshold (SRT), stroke length threshold (SLT) and stroke index threshold (SIT) were determined. The time to complete 400 m at maximal effort was considered as performance parameter (P400). No significant difference was found between the ATS (1.29 ± 0.07 m.s-1) and VT-30 (1.29 ± 0.08 m.s-1), along with a correlation (r = 0.90). The values of SRT (33.6 ± 4.14 cycles/min) and SRT-30 (34.9 ± 3.53 cycles/min) and of SLT (2.09 ± 0.20 m/cycle) and SLT-30 (2.09 ± 0.20 m/cycle) also had no significant differences. Significant correlations (p < 0.05) were also found between VT-30 and P400 (r = 0.95); SRT and SRT-30 (r = 0.73); SLT and SLT-30 (r = 0.89) and SIL and SIT-30 (r = 0.94). It was concluded that the VT-30 shows reliability for training monitoring, performance prediction and technical parameters determination in swimmers.
Swimming; Anaerobic threshold; Stroking parameters; 30 minutes test; performance
