ArticleEuropean journal of applied physiology2008
The critical velocity in swimming.
Article in European journal of applied physiology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- Biomechanical, Physiological and Anthropometric Determinants of Backstroke Swimming Performance: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2025Pooled it
- Oxygen uptake kinetics and speed-time correlates of modified 3-minute all-out shuttle running in soccer players.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Sex-based physiological responses to a 750-m swim at critical velocity estimated by the three-parameter model.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2026Article
- Effect of swimming intensity on performance in subsequent sprint triathlon: a sex-based analysis in amateur athletes.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Relationships Between Dry-Land Load-Velocity Parameters and In-Water Bioenergetic Performance in Competitive Swimmers.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Race Pace Using Critical Swimming Speed During 10 km Open-Water Swimming Competition.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Exploring Indicators for Training Load Control in Young Swimmers: The Role of Inspiratory Spirometry Outcomes.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2024Article
- Stroke-Specific Swimming Critical Speed Testing: Balancing Feasibility and Scientific Rigour.Journal of human kinetics · 2024Article
- Energy Consumption of Water Running and Cycling at Four Exercise Intensities.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Are Young Swimmers Short and Middle Distances Energy Cost Sex-Specific?Frontiers in physiology · 2021Article
- Critical speed and finite distance capacity: norms for athletic and non-athletic groups.European journal of applied physiology · 2020Article
- Do the Fastest Open-Water Swimmers have A Higher Speed in Middle- and Long-Distance Pool Swimming Events?Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2019Article
- Critical velocity and anaerobic paddling capacity determined by different mathematical models and number of predictive trials in canoe slalom.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2015Article
- Gender difference of aerobic contribution to surface performances in finswimming: analysis using the critical velocity method.Asian journal of sports medicine · 2013Article
- Indirect determination of lactate minimum speed from a single maximal performance in young swimmers.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2013Article
- Validity of critical frequency test for measuring table tennis aerobic endurance through specific protocol.Journal of sports science & medicine · 2008Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In supra-maximal exercise to exhaustion, the critical velocity (cv) is conventionally calculated from the slope of the distance (d) versus time (t) relationship: d = I + St. I is assumed to be the distance covered at the expense of the anaerobic capacity, S the speed maintained on the basis of the subject's maximal O(2) uptake (VO2max) This approach is based on two assumptions: (1) the energy cost of locomotion per unit distance (C) is constant and (2) VO2max is attained at the onset of exercise. Here we show that cv and the anaerobic distance (d (anaer)) can be calculated also in swimming, where C increases with the velocity, provided that VO2max its on-response, and the C versus v relationship are known. d (anaer) and cv were calculated from published data on maximal swims for the four strokes over 45.7, 91.4 and 182.9 m, on 20 elite male swimmers (18.9 +/- 0.9 years, 75.9 +/- 6.4 kg), whose VO2max and C versus speed relationship were determined, and compared to I and S obtained from the conventional approach. cv was lower than S (4, 16, 7 and 11% in butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and front crawl) and I (=11.6 m on average in the four strokes) was lower than d (anaer). The latter increased with the distance: average, for all strokes: 38.1, 60.6 and 81.3 m over 45.7, 91.4 and 182.9 m. It is concluded that the d versus t relationship should be utilised with some caution when evaluating performance in swimmers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.