Kirstin S Morris, Mark A Osborne, Megan E Shephard, David G Jenkins, Tina L Skinner

The contributions of the limbs to velocity and metabolic parameters in front-crawl swimming at different intensities have not been identified with the consideration of both stroke and kick rate. Consequently, velocity, oxygen uptake (V̇O2) and metabolic cost of swimming with the whole body (swim), the upper-limbs only (pull) and lower-limbs only (kick) were compared with stroke and kick rate controlled. Twenty elite swimmers completed six 200m trials; two swim, two pull and two kick. Swim trials were guided by underwater lights at paces equivalent to 65±3% and 78±3% of participants' 200m freestyle personal best pace; paces were described as 'low' and 'moderate', respectively. In the pull and kick trials, swimmers aimed to match the stroke and kick rates recorded during the swim trials, respectively. V̇O2 was measured continuously, with velocity and metabolic cost calculated for each 200m effort. The velocity contribution of the upper-limbs (mean±SD: low 63.9±6.2%; moderate 59.6±4.2%) was greater than that of the lower-limbs to a large extent at both intensities (low ES=4.40; moderate ES=4.60). The V̇O2 utilized by the upper-limbs differed between the intensities (low 55.5±6.9%; moderate 51.4±4.0%; ES=0.74). The lower-limbs were responsible for a greater percentage of the metabolic cost compared to the upper-limbs at both intensities (low 56.1±9.5%, ES=1.30; moderate 55.1±6.6%, ES=1.55). Implementation of this testing protocol before and after a pull or kick training block will enable sports scientists to identify how the velocity contributions and/or metabolic cost of the upper- and lower-limb actions have responded to the training program.