Olympic hope swimmer A. Šeleikaitė will contend for medals with the help of LSU researchers

Agnė Šeleikaitė, a rising Lithuanian swimming star, who took the sixth place in the World and European Junior Swimming Championships, is participating in the research on young athletes conducted by the researchers from Kaunas Swimming School and Lithuanian Sports University (LSU).

“My coach proposed to engage in this research to make sure we train properly. Some research was carried out in September and we will have some in December, as well. We will see how workouts effect my physical fitness. Although it was very difficult to work the pedals of a bicycle, I am willing to participate until the end of the research,” said the 18-year-old swimmer.

The research will involve nearly 30 promising swimmers from Kaunas Swimming School. Researchers from LSU Institute of Sport Science and Innovations, led by Prof. Dr. S. Kamandulis, will register heart rate variability and hormonal changes in athletes for ten weeks and will analyze the interface between physical load, sleep duration and general well-being.

During the research, athletes will be monitored by the physiotherapist of the Lithuanian National Swimming Team Andrius Bogdelis, swimming coach Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ilona J. Zuozienė (Department of Coaching Science, LSU), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jūratė Stanislovaitienė and lecturer Antanas Juodsnukis.

“Swimming is a very popular sport in Lithuania. Our swimmers have achieved good results, but very few studies of young athletes have been conducted. Young athletes can tolerate relatively high loads, but it’s hard to predict the body response to such loads due to puberty. Intensive workouts increase the risk of injury and overexertion. Modern technology allows to more objectively evaluate the effect of physical load and adapt the workout to every athlete individually. Therefore, we hope that the research results will help coaches to plan workouts more effectively and change their intensity having evaluated the body response to physical loads,” said Prof. Dr. S. Kamandulis.

In recent years, researchers from LSU Institute of Sport Science and Innovations have mastered new advanced methodologies that allow remote monitoring of the functional state of athletes and changes in their capacity. They are ready to implement the latest achievements in sport science.

“We are glad that athletes are willing to engage in new research. According to the coaches, the swimmers involved in it feel important and especially motivated during the workouts. We hope that the joint project of LSU researchers and coaches will expand the cognitive boundaries by innovating swimming training programmes and practically adapting scientific innovations,” said Assoc. prof. Dr. Ilona J. Zuozienė.