Swimming in aquatic environments

Swimmers exercise in a unique environment. The increased hydrostatic pressure of water compared with air, coupled with the horizontal body position and periods of breath holding, affect physiological and biomechanical responses to swimming. This chapter focuses on the practical considerations for conducting physiological testing of swimmers in aquatic environments. Swimming tests can be undertaken in indoor and outdoor swimming pools and flumes, rivers, lakes and seas. Testing in an indoor swimming pool or flume will give the practitioner more control and extend the range of physiological measurements available; however, it might also reduce the ecological validity of measurements. Stroke rate, stroke length, velocity, critical velocity and best effort performance tests provide useful information about swimming performance. Basic stroke characteristics and performance variables and their calculations can be found within the supplementary material. Practitioners must consider a number of factors before conducting physiological assessments in aquatic environments.