Energy Expenditure of Elite Female Swimmers During Heavy Training and Taper

Assessment of energy expenditure at various times during swim training in free-living athletes has been extremely difficult. Utilization of the doubly labeled water technique enables non-invasive assessment of energy output. The present study was designed to assess whether or not energy expenditure varied at two distinct training times (heavy training and taper) within a collegiate season. Four female Division II collegiate swimmers were used as subjects in the present study. Each subject received a dose of 0.3g H₂ ¹⁸O/kg and 0.75g ²H₂O/kg estimated body water on day zero of both phases of the study. Saliva samples were collected a twenty-four hour intervals for the subsequent five days. All samples were frozen and stored until analysis. Diet records and workout logs were collected daily throughout the study. Caloric intake was determined from the food records. Energy expenditure was calculated from the carbon dioxide and respiratory quotent with subsequent determination of fat mass and fat free mass for each subject. Due to the small sample size, trend analysis between phases was utilized.