Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, Director General of Aspetar,

“We are a world class facility, and we aim to provide long-term support to visiting teams and athletes”.

Doha, 9th June 2014: The South African National Swim team is the latest group of world-class athletes to travel to Qatar to collaborate with Aspetar and take part in a performance enhancing altitude training camp. Earlier this week, the seven South African athletes and their coach underwent an introductory training session, in which they learned about the benefits of altitude training. They team took advantage of the hospital’s advanced altitude-inducing normobaric hypoxic (oxygen reduced) rooms within Aspetar, as well as Aspire Zone’s Hamad Aquatic Centre for further training. Commenting on the visit, Dr Khalifa Al Kuwari, Director General of Aspetar, said:

“We work closely with a number of clubs and professional athletes to optimise their performance levels, both individually and as a team. Part of this commitment includes collecting data from the visiting teams in order to conduct applied research, which, we hope, will help athletes perform better in the future”.

He continued, “Several of our employees have almost 20 years’ experience working in high performance environments. Our experts used their extensive knowledge to offer comprehensive guidance and advice throughout the sessions. Consequently, this enabled each and every athlete to work towards reaching their full potential.”. With the help of their coach, Aspetar was also able to develop a long-term strategy for the athletes, incorporating altitude as part of their on-going training programme. Each swimmer also had their sleeping and eating habits monitored during their time in Doha, as well as the response to altitude. Aspetar then provided the team with recommendations to improve their future training methods. Athletes using altitude camps as part of their training can often see their bodies becoming more efficient. They might also witness an increase in their ability to train or perform intensively during key competitions, largely due to increased oxygen and haemoglobin levels. Traditionally, athletes need to spend significant amounts of time at high altitudes in order to reap the benefits of improved physiological capacity, which leads to the overall enhancement of their athletic performance. There are 25 rooms within Aspetar’s purpose-built normobaric hypoxic dormitory, in addition to a large communal living area. The chamber, which houses a complex filtration system, reduces the concentration of oxygen in the air to replicate altitudes ranging from 100 to 4,000 metres. Aspetar also uses mobile hypoxic inflatable simulation equipment, comprising a 45m-long tent for sprints and a 10x8m tent for small-sided games. It is one of only four in the world, and is not only the biggest, but also the only such facility in existence in the Gulf region. Combined with the simulation tents, Aspetar can also now accommodate ‘live-high-train-high’ or ‘live-low-train-high’ training regimes. As a result of these impressive facilities, both Aspetar and the Aspire Zone will regularly host top-tier sports teams as they look to assist world-class athletes fulfil their maximum sporting potential. With the Aspire Zone now a world-leading destination for elite sport training camps, dozens of world-class basketball players, footballers and swimmers have, in recent year, all taken advantage of its facilities and high-end venues. Many elite athletes have also taken advantage of Aspetar’s normobaric hypoxic chambers including the French national swim team led by Olympic gold medallist Florent Manaudou, the Australian national swimming team and Carlton FC, an Australian Football League team. For more information, visit the event’s website at www.aspetar.com/altitudetraining.