Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe resting and exercise pulmonary dif- fusing capacities and oxygen uptakes of well trained child and adolescent swimmers and to evaluate the relationships among these parameters. Further- more, the relationships among pulmonary diffusing capacity, oxygen uptake, age, height, weight, body surface area, and physical working capacity were determined. Sixteen members of a competitive swim team served as subjects. Each subject was measured at the same time of day on two separate days. On Experimental Day One, the swimmers were assessed for resting DLco, resting VO2, PWC170, exercise DLco, and exercise VO2 and on Experimental Day Two, theywere measured for height (cm), weight (kg), and VO2 max (ml/kg.min). Results of the analyses indicatedthat: (1) the best predictors of resting DLco in order are age, BSA, weight and height (2) the best predictor of exercise DLcowas PWC170 (3) mean resting DLco in well trained child swimmers is signifi- cantly higher (P<.05) than the predicted mean resting DLco one would expect to see in normal children of the same age and body dimensions and (4) mean VO2 max in well trained child swimmers as measured by treadmill running is not significantly greater (P>.05) than mean VO2 max predicted for normal Swedish children of the same age and body dimensions. Verf.-Referat