Recent studies reported different ages for peak freestyle swimming performances for 50 m and 1,500 m. The aims of the present study were (i) to determine the age of peak freestyle swimming speed for distances including 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, and 1,500 m and to (ii) analyze the sex difference in peak freestyle swimming speed for all distances between 50 m and 1,500 m for elite female ...

There is considerable intraspecific variation in metabolic rates and locomotor performance in aquatic ectothermic vertebrates; however, the mechanistic basis remains poorly understood. Using pregnant Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata), a live-bearing teleost, we examined the effects of reproductive traits, pectoral fin use and burst-assisted swimming on swimming metabolic rate, standard ...

The Wujiang River is a tributary of the upper Yangtze River that shows great variations in its flow regime and habitat condition. Dams have been built along the Wujiang River and have altered the habitats profoundly enough that they may give rise to reproductive isolation. To test whether the swimming performance and morphology of the Chinese hook snout carp (Opsariichthys bidens), varied among...

Power represents the ability to perform movements at high speed, or the possibility of developing high strength in a short time. More than sixty years ago the relationship between power, strength and speed of muscle contraction was described by Hill [1]. Swimming performance is a multi-factorial phenomenon depending upon energetics, biomechanics, hydrodynamics, anthropometrics and strength para...

The relationships among animal form, function and performance are complex, and vary across environments. Therefore, it can be difficult to identify morphological and/or physiological traits responsible for enhancing performance in a given habitat. In fishes, differences in swimming performance across water flow gradients are related to morphological variation among and within species. However, ...