Australian big wave surfer and ocean adventurer Mark Visser will be put through some rigorous testing when he visits the University of the Sunshine Coast tomorrow (Wednesday 24 February).

Visser, who can reportedly hold his breath underwater for up to six minutes, will complete a VO2max test under the guidance of USC accredited exercise scientist Ava Kerr.

Visser is the 2014/15 Big Wave Paddle-in Champion and three times runner-up for the ASL Big Wave Awards.

Ms Kerr said the test would measure how efficiently Visser’s muscles use oxygen to make the energy required to exercise.

“For Mark, this is about acquiring more physiological data to give him a benchmark for where he’s at now and help guide future training interventions to help him prepare for his next big event,” she said.

The University of the Sunshine Coast is accredited with the Australian Institute of Sport’s National Sports Science Quality Assurance program in the streams of anthropometry, field testing, oxygen consumption and ergometry.

This ensures any athlete who undertakes these testing services at USC can be confident the standards are as high as those at the AIS.

USC was one of the first universities in Australia to receive this accreditation.

Ms Kerr has written about VO2max testing at: http://blog.theupsidesport.com/maximal-oxygen-uptake-vo2max/

— Terry Walsh