Specific test for water polo performance evaluation: A preliminary and profile study

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 Our aim was to determine the aerobic/ anaerobic profiles of the WP athletes through specific test. 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 (VO2max) a heart rate (HRmax), peak blood lactate (Lacp) and the second lactate threshold (LL2). 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: VO2max=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). The proposed tests may be a possibility to determining the physiological fitness of WP athletes.