Arterial stiffness in young adult swimmers

Habitual Aerobic exercise reduces arterial stiffness, but effects of habitual swimming on arterial stiffness are not yet fully understood. Swimming can also increase systolic blood pressure (BP) in normotensive individuals. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study aimed to investigate arterial stiffness in young adult swimmers after considering the influence of BP.

Participants comprised 41 men (18-21 years), including 15 untrained controls (C), 11 competitive cyclists (aerobic-trained athletes; A), and 15 competitive swimmers (S). Arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-ankle pulse-wave velocity (baPWV), heart-ankle pulse-wave velocity (haPWV), and cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI). CAVI is the measurement of arterial stiffness that is theoretically adjusted by BP.

Although physical characteristics and handgrip strength did not differ between groups, peak oxygen uptake was significantly greater in A and S than in C. A tendency towards higher systolic BP and a significantly higher pulse pressure were found in S as compared to C and A. Most importantly, baPWV was significantly lower in A than in C or S, and no significant difference in baPWV was observed between C and S (C, 1027 ± 25; A, 852 ± 23; S, 1032 ± 24 cm/s). No significant difference in haPWV was observed. However, CAVI was significantly lower in A and S than in C, and did not differ significantly between A and S (C, 5.8 ± 0.2; A, 5.1 ± 0.2; S, 5.3 ± 0.2 unit).

These findings indicate that arterial stiffness in young adult swimmers is lower than in age-matched sedentary controls and similar to land-based aerobic-exercise individuals, after considering the influences of BP.