Beat Knechtle

Background: Water polo (WP) is a sport with great aerobic/ anaerobic physiological demands. There are few studies that have evaluated the physical demands during the WP game and its relationship with the physiological indices of aerobic fitness Aim: Our aim was to determine the aerobic/ anaerobic profiles of the WP athletes through specific test. Materials and Methods: WP male athletes participated in this study (24.5±5.6 years, 85.9±10.3 kg, 183.0±6.3 cm, n=23). The athletes performed an anaerobic WP test (TAnaWP) to determine the height (Alt- cm) of the 1st/ 15th/ 30th jumps, total time(s) of the jumps (TT30) and the fatigue index (FI). Blood lactate kinetics were determined immediately after (Lac0 min) and during the recovery period; Lac 1/ 3/ 5/ 8/ 12 min. They also performed an aerobic water polo test (TAerWP) to determine maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2 max) a heart rate (HRmax), peak blood lactate (Lacp) and the second lactate threshold (LL2). Results: The following results (in cm) were obtained in TAnaWP: Alt1st (44±6), Alt15th (32±7) and Alt30th (24±9); TT30 (56.9±9.5); FI (42.0±12.5%); (Lac0), (Lac1), (Lac3), (Lac5), (Lac8) and (Lac12) (5.2±1.7; 7.8±1.6; 9.0±2.0; 9.4±2.2; 9.2±2.7; 8.5±2.2 mmol/L, respectively). The mean maximal values for the aerobic test were: VO 2 max=44.4±5.3 ml/kg/min, HRmax=174.3±9.1 bpm, Lacp=8.6±2.1 mmol/L. The values obtained at LL2 were: 157.5±13.5 bpm/ 90.5±8.2% HRmax). Conclusion: The proposed tests may be a possibility to determining the physiological fitness of WP athletes.