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Observations on Efficiency of Swimmers as Related to Some Changes in Pre-Exercise Nutriment¹

Department of Physiology, Emory University, Emory University, Georgia

A study of the performance of swimmers in a hundred yard sprint has been made to determine the influence of the size of the antecedent meal on severe exercise of short duration.

Two and a half to 3 hours after a heavy meal, the time required to swim each of three laps in the hundred yard sprint was the same as when a light meal was taken.

Supplementation of the light meal by the ingestion of 50 or 100 gm of sucrose before swimming had no effect on the swimming time.

The drop-off in the second and third laps which is taken as an objective index of fatigue was the same regardless of the amount of the food intake before swimming.

The blood sugar level before swimming was the same 2 to 3 hours after the various amounts of antecedent food intake. Immediately after swimming there was a rise in the blood sugar which was practically the same in all experiments. This rise in blood sugar was apparently a direct effect of exercise and not due to emotional stress.

It is concluded that there is no relationship of speed, power and skill in swimming a hundred yard sprint to the amount of nutriment taken 2 to 3 hours before swimming.

Manuscript received 30 November 1945.