Studia Kinanthropologica 2024, 25(2):81-89 | DOI: 10.32725/sk.2024.015

The effect of acute and intermittent hypoxia on the performance of swimmers

Z. Pupišová, M. Pupiš, & N. Schneiderová
Faculty of Sport Science and Health, Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

The main objective of the research was to determine the impact of different forms of hypoxia (acute and intermittent) on the performance of performance swimmers. We realised pre and post-tests in 50-meter freestyle swimming speed (T1), counted the number of breaths taken during 50-meter freestyle swimming (T2), and measured the maximum underwater distance covered in one breath (T3). The study was conducted on a sample of n = 12 performance swimmers (4 females and 8 males), with the average age of 15.75 years, average body weight of 56.2 kg, and average body height of 172.5 cm. The testing was preceded by a 10-minute warm-up and a 400-meter swim using any stroke, followed by two repetitions of a 15-meter sprint and a 35-meter easy swim. The experiment involving hypoxic conditions was carried out over a 3-week period / 21 days in February and March 2024. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups: RG1 underwent hypoxic controlled swimming training, RG2 underwent intermittent simulated hypoxic training using the ’AltitudeTechPortable 2020’ hypoxic generator, and RG3 served as a control group without any experimental intervention. The results indicate that the most significant average improvement in T1 was achieved by RG2 (+5.3%), in T2 by RG1 (+35.7%), and in T3 by RG1 (+14.3%). Based on the results, we may conclude that for performance swimmers, acute hypoxia in normoxic conditions, incorporated into swimming training in individual periods of 3 weeks and lasting 10-15 minutes per training session after warm-ups, appears to be most effective, especially when combined with intermittent hypoxia as implemented in this study, particularly for improving performance in the shortest 50-meter disciplines.

Keywords: hypoxia; sports training; performance swimming; swimming performance

Received: November 6, 2024; Revised: November 15, 2024; Accepted: December 6, 2024; Published: December 20, 2024  Show citation

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Pupišová Z, Pupiš M, & Schneiderová N. The effect of acute and intermittent hypoxia on the performance of swimmers. Studia Kinanthropologica. 2024;25(2):81-89. doi: 10.32725/sk.2024.015.
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