The visit to Tartu was successful

The ground was snowy and white when I arrived to historic Tartu last Wednesday. Thursday morning was biting cold, nearly -20°C. While the Ema River was streaming wide open the air was also humid, which made the coldness even more biting. However, inside at the swimming pool of the Aura Center the climate was tropical. We spent the whole day to start a series of measurements on VO2 kinetics in young competitive swimmers representing Estonian national and elite level.

It was a great pleasure for me to get to know Toivo Jürimäe’s research team; to refresh some old relationships and to learn to know some new ones. After the first experimental session, which was also a learning experience for me, Toivo’s professional group made my job very easy. My only role for the rest of the day was finally just to watch how the data was accumulating. We were successful with altogether four subjects. I’m confident that Swimming Science will make a jump forward with this project. Now the Estonian team will continue data collection for the next 1 or 2 months. Thereafter, we plan to meet again to continue with the final analyses of the data. In that part we may also enjoy the expertise of Prof. Dr. Ferran A. Rodríguez from the University of Barcelona.

I enclose a few pictures from the measurements. First, one of the subjects, Lisa Haljaste, will be prepared for the measurements while Prof. Jürimäe is watching on the right.


Second, Lisa is ready to start and wearing a respiratory valve system specially made for swimming.



Third, Jarek and Kaja (Lisa’s mother and coach) are discussing about the lactate values after Lisa's swim.