@misc{10481/106864,
year = {2025},
month = {7},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/106864},
abstract = {Objective: As performance progression provides an essential indicator for talent selection
and development, this study aimed to compare annual swimming performance progression
between different competitive levels and to establish benchmarks for long-term athlete
development. Methods: Annual best times of swimmers who competed up to the age of
21 years and achieved over 450 World Aquatics points were extracted from the database
of European Aquatics. A total of 13,310 male and 7798 female pool swimmers of all race
distances were grouped into three performance levels. Results: The results showed a
continuous decline in annual performance progression throughout the years across all race
distances (all p < 0.001) and in both sexes. There were differences between performance
level across the age groups for all race distances in male swimmers, but only for the
100–400 m races in females (p < 0.05). Absolute performance showed significant main
effects for level and age over all race distances for both sexes (all p < 0.001). Conclusions:
Annual performance progression of swimmers consistently decreases across the competitive
lifetime in both sexes, regardless of race distance and performance level. The eventspecific benchmarks should be used as a framework to set realistic goals for both sexes
and swimmers of different competitive levels, as well as to guide swimmers throughout
their careers.},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {athlete development},
keywords = {career trajectories},
keywords = {development program},
title = {Annual Performance Progression in Swimming Across Competition Levels and Race Distances},
doi = {10.3390/jfmk10030297},
author = {Ruiz Navarro, Jesús Juan and Born, Denis-Peter},
}