Comparison of two anaerobic water polo-specific tests with the Wingate test

The purpose of the current study was to compare 2 water polo–specific tests—the 14 3 25-m swims (SWIM) and the 30-second crossbar jumps (30CJ)—with a laboratory-based test of anaerobic power, the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WAnT). Thirteen elite women’s water polo players (mean 6 SD: age 22.0 6 4.4 years, height 168.7 6 7.9 cm, body mass 65.9 6 6.1 kg, body fat 23.6 6 3.5 %, maximum oxygen uptake 51.4 6 4.5 mlkg21min21) participated in the study. The SWIM involved 14 repeated ‘‘all-out’’ sprints every 30 seconds. Swimming time was recorded, and sprint velocity, mean velocity (Vmean), and the gradient of the linear regression equation (GRADIENT) were calculated. The 30CJ involved repeated in-water water polo jumps and touching the goal crossbar with both hands. The number of touches in 30 seconds was recorded. Additionally, the subjects completed a 30-second WAnT, and mean power (Mp) and fatigue index (FI) were calculated. Kendall tau (t) rank correlation was used to examine for correlation between ranks. Significance level was set at p # 0.05. No significant correlation was found between any of the measures of the WAnT and the 2 sport-specific tests. It was suggested that the WAnT may not be an appropriate evaluation tool for anaerobic power assessment of water polo players, stressing the importance of sport-specific tests.