2016 Olympics: Mitch Larkin among Aussie swimmers using high-altitude training in Brisbane

SEVEN Rio-bound Aussie swimmers are training in high-altitude conditions similar to those found in the US, Japan or Spain – all without leaving Brisbane.

Mitch Larkin has been doing some of his training in a tent poolside.

MITCH Larkin couldn’t go to the mountain, so they brought the mountain to Mitch.

Three times a week world backstroke champion Larkin, and the six other Rio-bound swimmers in coach Michael Bohl’s Brisbane squad, jump on bikes and train in high-altitude conditions similar to those found at training centres in the US, Japan or Spain – all without leaving St Lucia.

The Queensland Academy of Sport has erected two tents inside the aquatic centre alongside the pool at St Peters Western Lutheran College where Bohl’s squad is based. With atmosphere inside artificially set at the equivalent of 3000 metres above sea level, the result is the same as if the swimmers were training in Flagstaff or Sierra Nevada.

In recent years high altitude training has become standard procedure for elite athletes but with seven of Bohl’s swimmers making the Olympic team, the cost of travelling overseas, or even to Thredbo or the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra which has permanent high altitude facilities, was prohibitive.

“Maybe if you have one or two swimmers you can send them away, but getting seven to Flagstaff is out of the question,” Bohl said.

“I knew they had these tents at the QAS and asked them if there was a chance they could bring them to us, and they made it happen.”

The two clear plastic tents, each housing four stationary bikes, are linked to machines that resemble portable air conditioning units. The atmosphere inside is regulated to make the air thinner, meaning that the athletes must work harder thus reaching fitness goals faster than normal.

Overseeing the program is sports scientist Lachlan Mitchell, who joined the QAS after five years working with elite swimmers at the AIS in Canberra.

“Basically what we are doing is simulating the atmosphere on a mountain, where the higher you go the lower the oxygen in the air,” he said.

Mitch Larkin has been doing some of his training in a tent poolside.

“We do that by adding nitrogen to the air in the tent, which brings the oxygen down. A lot of exposure to this sort of training can stimulate red blood cell production – which is perfectly legal – but it takes around 100 hours to make a one per-cent improvement.

“These athletes will only be doing about 20 to 30 hours altitude training so the main benefit to them will be aerobic stimulus. They have to work harder, so they get fitter faster.”

There is also the benefit of what Mitchell calls “novelty stimulus” – the boost that comes from doing something different for their 40 minute fitness sessions, rather than sticking to training patterns their bodies and minds are used to.

“This is the first time this type of portable high altitude training has been used for swimmers and it has obvious benefits,” he said.

There are only a very few 50 metre pools at altitude in the world, such as at Flagstaff, Arizona and Sierra Nevada in Spain.

“This way the only one who has to travel is me.”

Originally published as 2016 Olympics: Mitch Larkin among Aussie swimmers using high-altitude training in Brisbane