POST #21 Exercise, Health and Performance: Validity of Wearable Metabolic + Valve System for Breath-by-Breath Gas Assessment in Swimming

We compared ventilatory and cardiorespiratory responses between the COSMED AquaTrainer coupled with the COSMED K4b2 and COSMED K5 wearable metabolic systems in breath-by-breath mode over a wide range of swimming speeds. This study confirms the utility and viability of employing K5 analyzer in combination with the AquaTrainer snorkel for swimming research and sports science testing. These systems can be used by swimming staff and researchers working in a semicontrolled pool environment. As well as cross-sectional analyses of different swimmer cohorts, AquaTrainer coupled with K5 can be useful in the serial measurement of ventilatory and cardiorespiratory response capacities for a given swimmer over time, for example, a swimming season leading up to a major national or international competition. There is also potential for using these systems in randomized controlled trial studies of various training, nutrition, or technique interventions aimed at improving swimming fitness and performance.