Pulmonary Function Test: Relationship Between Adolescent Swimmers and Finswimmers.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of training on the static and dynamic respiratory parameters in adolescent female swimmers (SWs) and finswimmers (FSWs).

Methods:  Forty-six female adolescent SWs (n=24, age=17.6±0.7 years) and FSWs (n=22, age=17.0±1.2 years) volunteered for this study. All participants underwent standard spirometry and lung volume measurements and were collected anthropometrical and morphological characteristics.

Results: The results of the groups in the pulmonary function test parameters, namely, inspiratory capacity (IC), expiratory reserve volume (ERV), and peak expiratory flow (PEF), were significantly different. Higher values of IC, ERV, and PEF were observed in the FSW group than the SW group: IC = 116.5±13.2 (SWs) vs. 125.5±11.5 (FSWs) % of predicted, p = 0.019; ERV = 121.8±14.8 (SWs) vs. 130.6±12.5 (FSWs) % of predicted, p = 0.036; PEF = 111.6±7.5 (SWs) vs. 116.3±5.0 (FSWs) % of predicted, p = 0.018.

Conclusion:  The differences between groups probably reflect the activation of different muscle groups.