Performance Progression and Stability of Female Swimmers Across Different Swimming Techniques from Childhood to Adulthood

Abstract

The goal of this research was to grasp the feminine swimmers’ annual efficiency development and stability between 10 and 18 years throughout swimming distances and methods. Data from feminine Portuguese Top-50 rankings within the short-course pool was extracted from an open entry database (swimrankings.web). Performances had been grouped by distances (50-, 100- and 200 m) and methods (freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly), totalizing 12 occasions as efficiency metrics. A complete of 343 swimmers and 3087 performances distributed by 9 consecutive aggressive seasons had been retrospectively assessed. The imply and normative stability had been computed for monitoring efficiency tendencies, whereas reporting the year-to-year share enchancment. The variations throughout distances and methods had been examined with a linear mixed-effects mannequin utilizing intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The efficiency development was characterised by marked enhancements through the early ages (as much as 13% yearly) and an rising plateau across the 15–16 years. The stability patterns assorted between occasions, with the backstroke approach (ICC = 0.13) demonstrating better consistency of particular person variations on developmental trajectories, whereas shorter races (i.e., 50 m; ICC = 0.15) tended to be extra steady than 100 m or 200 m (ICC = 0.12). It could be concluded that feminine swimmers’ efficiency stabilizes on the 15–16 years of age. Despite decreased variations, the backstroke approach and quick distances appear to indicate a barely extra steady development in progressing from childhood to maturity.