Effect of induced alkalosis on swimming time trials

Previous studies have shown that sodium bicarbonate ingestion prior to exercise may improve performance during repeated (interval) bouts. To examine the practical implications of such findings, seven collegiate swimmers participated in simulated swim competitions of multiple events following sodium bicarbonate (B) ingestion, placebo (P) ingestion and control (C--no ingestion) treatments. Each swimmer reported to the laboratory 1 h prior to the simulated competitions (72 h apart) and was randomly assigned to one of the three experimental treatments. Competition consisted of one relay (100 yards; 91.4 m) and two individual (200 yards; 182.8 m) swimming events with 20 min rest between events. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures revealed no significant differences in performance times as a result of the three treatments (P greater than 0.05). The results suggest that sodium bicarbonate ingestion prior to swim competition consisting of significant rest intervals between events is not an ergogenic procedure.