Enhancement of blood lactate clearance following maximal swimming. Effect of velocity of recovery swimming.

Swimming is an endurance-intensive sport resulting in accumulation of lactate. Repeat performances are often necessary in championship events. Lactate produced during a maximal effort requires time to metabolize to a base level. If this does not occur, performance in a repeat effort may be impaired. Thus, techniques to enhance lactate clearance are of potential benefit to the athlete. We have demonstrated previously that swimming at 65% of maximum velocity significantly improved lactate clearance over passive resting. This study tested the effect of various swimming velocities on lactate clearance. Following a maximal swim, blood lactate clearance was tracked during a 15 minute cool down swim. Velocities of 55%, 65%, and 75% of maximum were tested. The results confirmed that cool down swimming will return lactate values to near resting levels in the test interval. However, statistical superiority of any of the test velocities was not demonstrated. The intensity of the swim should be below the lactate accumulation level. The 65% of maximum velocity was felt by all swimmers to be most comfortable and is a good target velocity for the athlete to reference.