In practical situations, it could be one of a variety of objective measures which assess the dimensions of an athlete's trained state, skill efficiency, and mental control. That is because lactate removal rates vary between athletes and do not depend on training intensities. Lactate values must be used with caution and testing should be limited to simply describing how muscles adapt to different workloads and whether an overall training adaptation is taking place. The need for a strong buffer capacity is highest for 200 m events. Embark on a more comprehensive program of ongoing performer analysis that will yield valid and reliable information that has predictive or diagnostic value.
Measurement is the only answer.
The best and most valid measure is swimming performance itself. If swimmers are swimming faster they are improving. The principal concern of this writer is that Australian swimming has employed a simple test that is of limited value for making coaching decisions, particularly with regard to training and tapering stimuli. It is used in a manner that should result in more erroneous than sound decisions. There are better and more comprehensive measures of performance.