A new snorkel for collecting respiratory gases during swimming and other water activities has been deviced by members the INEFC-Barcelona Sports Research Group in collaboration with the Physiology Department of the German Sports University of Cologne. The new snorkel improves a previous snorkel designed and validated in conjuction with the University of Jyväskylä (see refs. below). The first prototype was engineered and built by COSMED s.r.l. (Italy) and is to substitute the current Aquatrainer, not able to measure gas exchange breath-by-breath. Our group performed a in vivo validation by having 10 subjects performing two maximal exercise tests in the cycle ergometer while breathing through a conventional Hans-Rudolph face mask or the new device, and comparing various parameters measured by the K4 b2 portable gas analyzer. An ex vivo validation will now be carried out in Cologne using a gas exchange simulation system. The new device will be used for the swimming tests in the ALTITUDE Project, being launched next October 1st, 2011.
Keskinen KL, Rodríguez FA, Keskinen OP. Respiratory snorkel and valve system for breath-by-breath gas analysis in swimming. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2003; 13: 322 – 329
Rodríguez FA, Keskinen KL, Kusch M, Hoffmann U. Validity of a swimming snorkel for metabolic testing. Int J Sports Med. Int J Sports Med 2008; 29: 120 – 128
Grup de Recerca en Ciències de l’Esport INEFC Barcelona (GRCEIB) 