THE METABOLIC COST OF 2 KAYAKING TECHNIQUES

A common technique employed in flatwater kayak and canoe races is ''wa sh riding'', in which a paddler positions his/her boat on the wake of a leading boat and, at a strategic moment, drops off the wake to sprin t ahead. It was hypothesized that this manoeuver was energy efficient, analogous to drafting in cycling. To study this hypothesis, minute ve ntilation (VE), heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO2) were meas ured in 10 elite male kayak paddlers (age = 25+/-6.5 yrs, height = 183 .6+/-4.4 cm, mass = 83.9+/-6.1 kg) during steady-state exercise at a s tandardized velocity in conditions of ''wash riding'' (WR) and ''nonwa sh riding'' (NWR). The data were collected in field conditions using a portable telemetric metabolic system (Cosmed K2). Statistical analysi s of the mean Values for VE, VO2 and HR was performed using the Hotell ing's T-2 statistic and revealed significant (p < 0.05) differences be tween the WR and NWR trials for all three dependent variables. Mean va lues for VE (l/min) were WR = 113+/-16.5, NWR = 126.3+/-15.7; for VO2 (l/min) were WR = 3.22+/-0.32, NWR = 3.63+/-0.3; and for HR (bpm) were WR = 167+/-9.9, NWR = 174+/-8.0. It was concluded that wash riding du ring kayak paddling confers substantial metabolic savings at the speed s tested. This has implications for the design of training programs a nd competitive strategies for flatwater distance kayak racing.