Question

an athlete swims 1,400 meters in a pool. toward the end of the swim, there is a low amount of oxygen in the athlete’s muscles. why can the athlete still swim when the oxygen level in the muscle cells is low?

Answer 1

The athlete can still swim because of lactic acid fermentation. Lactic acid fermentation makes ATP in the absence of oxygen by converting glucose to lactic acid. It is a type of anaerobic respiration (or fermentation) that breaks down sugars to produce energy in the form of ATP. It is called anaerobic because it occurs in the absence of oxygen. Lactic acid is generated as a byproduct of this reaction, which is what gives this type of fermentation its name.