ABSTRACT
The Critical Power (CP) is a theoretical concept that assumes the existence of a maximum power of exercise that can be maintained indefinitely (Monod and Scherrer, 1965). The method was originally proposed for evaluating muscle groups synergists (Monod and Scherrer, 1965), and later extended to the assessment of large muscle groups (Moritani et al., 1981). In the early 90s, the CP was used in swimming and the term critical velocity (CV) was proposed to represent the swimming speed which theoretically could be maintained for a long period of time without depletion (Wakayoshi et al., 1992a). Over the years the CV has received different experimental approaches to confirm its validity (Wakayoshi et al., 1992b; Denadai and Greco, 2005; Machado et al., 2011), in swimmers of different ages (between 8 and 18 years) (Hill et al., 1995). However, the behaviour of CV as a predictor of aerobic performance in adolescent athletes of high competitive level has not yet been evaluated. Thus, the present study aimed to verify whether the CV corresponds to maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) in adolescent athletes characterized as elite swimmers in the child and youth categories.
