. 2016 Mar 4;4(1):17.

doi: 10.3390/sports4010017.

The Age in Swimming of Champions in World Championships (1994⁻2013) and Olympic Games (1992⁻2012): A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis

Beat Knechtle¹, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi^{2

3}, Stefan König⁴, Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis⁵, Stefanie Wild⁶, Thomas Rosemann⁷, Christoph Alexander Rüst⁸

Affiliations

¹ Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, St. Gallen 9001, Switzerland. beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch.
² Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy. robertobragazzi@gmail.com.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy. robertobragazzi@gmail.com.
⁴ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. steven.king@gmx.ch.
⁵ Department of Physical and Cultural Education, Hellenic Army Academy, Vari 16673, Greece. pantelisn@phed.uoa.gr.
⁶ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. stefanie.wild@gmx.ch.
⁷ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. thomas.rosemann@usz.ch.
⁸ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. christoph.ruest@bluewin.ch.

PMID: 29910265
PMCID: PMC5968937
DOI: 10.3390/sports4010017

The Age in Swimming of Champions in World Championships (1994⁻2013) and Olympic Games (1992⁻2012): A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis

Beat Knechtle et al. Sports (Basel). 2016.

. 2016 Mar 4;4(1):17.

doi: 10.3390/sports4010017.

Authors

Beat Knechtle¹, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi^{2

3}, Stefan König⁴, Pantelis Theodoros Nikolaidis⁵, Stefanie Wild⁶, Thomas Rosemann⁷, Christoph Alexander Rüst⁸

Affiliations

¹ Gesundheitszentrum St. Gallen, St. Gallen 9001, Switzerland. beat.knechtle@hispeed.ch.
² Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy. robertobragazzi@gmail.com.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa 16132, Italy. robertobragazzi@gmail.com.
⁴ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. steven.king@gmx.ch.
⁵ Department of Physical and Cultural Education, Hellenic Army Academy, Vari 16673, Greece. pantelisn@phed.uoa.gr.
⁶ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. stefanie.wild@gmx.ch.
⁷ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. thomas.rosemann@usz.ch.
⁸ Institute of Primary Care, University of Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland. christoph.ruest@bluewin.ch.

PMID: 29910265
PMCID: PMC5968937
DOI: 10.3390/sports4010017

Abstract

(1) Background: We investigated the age of swimming champions in all strokes and race distances in World Championships (1994⁻2013) and Olympic Games (1992⁻2012); (2) Methods: Changes in age and swimming performance across calendar years for 412 Olympic and world champions were analysed using linear, non-linear, multi-level regression analyses and MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP); (3) Results: The age of peak swimming performance remained stable in most of all race distances for world champions and in all race distances for Olympic champions. Longer (i.e., 200 m and more) race distances were completed by younger (-20 years old for women and -22 years old for men) champions than shorter (i.e., 50 m and 100 m) race distances (-22 years old for women and -24 years old for men). There was a sex difference in the age of champions of -2 years with a mean age of -21 and -23 years for women and men, respectively. Swimming performance improved in most race distances for world and Olympic champions with a larger trend of increase in Olympic champions; (4) Conclusion: Swimmers at younger ages (<20 years) may benefit from training and competing in longer race distances (i.e., 200 m and longer) before they change to shorter distances (i.e., 50 m and 100 m) when they become older (>22 years).

Keywords: age; champions; performance; sex difference.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Quality of the MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) model (observed values *versus* expected values scatterplot) (a) and quality of the MLP model (residual *versus* expected values scatterplot) (b).

**Figure 2**
Change in the age of world champions (1994–2013) over time for freestyle 50 m (**Panel A**); 100 m (**Panel B**); 200 m (**Panel C**); 400 m (**Panel D**); 800 m (**Panel E**); and 1500 m (**Panel F**).

**Figure 3**
Change in the age of world champions (1994–2013) over time for 100 m breaststroke (**Panel A**); 200 m breaststroke (**Panel B**); 100 m backstroke (**Panel C**); 200 m backstroke (**Panel D**); 100 m butterfly (**Panel E**); 200 m butterfly (**Panel F**); 200 m individual medley (**Panel G**); and 400 m individual medley (**Panel H**).

**Figure 4**
Change in the age of Olympic champions (1992–2012) over time in freestyle for 50 m (**Panel A**); 100 m (**Panel B**); 200 m (**Panel C**); 400 m (**Panel D**); 800 m (**Panel E**); and 1500 m (**Panel F**).

**Figure 5**
Change in the age of Olympic champions (1992–2012) over time for 100 m breaststroke (**Panel A**); 200 m breaststroke (**Panel B**); 100 m backstroke (**Panel C**); 200 m backstroke (**Panel D**); 100 m butterfly (**Panel E**); 200 m butterfly (**Panel F**); 200 m individual medley (**Panel G**); and 400 m individual medley (**Panel H**).

**Figure 6**
Change in freestyle swimming speed over time in world champions (1994–2013) for 50 m (**Panel A**); 100 m (**Panel B**); 200 m (**Panel C**); 400 m (**Panel D**); 800 m (**Panel E**); and 1500 m (**Panel F**).

**Figure 7**
Change in swimming speed over time in world champions (1994–2013) for 100 m breaststroke (**Panel** A); 200 m breaststroke (**Panel B**); 100 m backstroke (**Panel C**); 200 m backstroke (**Panel D**); 100 m butterfly (**Panel E**); 200 m butterfly (**Panel F**); 200 m individual medley (**Panel G**); and 400 m individual medley (**Panel H**).

**Figure 8**
Change in freestyle swimming speed over time in Olympic champions (1992–2012) for 50 m (**Panel A**); 100 m (**Panel B**); 200 m (**Panel C**); 400 m (**Panel D**); 800 m (**Panel E**); and 1500 m (**Panel F**).

**Figure 9**
Change in swimming speed over time in Olympic champions (1992–2012) for 100 m breaststroke (**Panel A**); 200 m breaststroke (**Panel B**); 100 m backstroke (**Panel C**); 200 m backstroke (**Panel D**); 100 m butterfly (**Panel E**); 200 m butterfly (**Panel F**); 200 m individual medley (**Panel G**); and 400 m individual medley (**Panel H**).

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The Age in Swimming of Champions in World Championships (1994⁻2013) and Olympic Games (1992⁻2012): A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis

Affiliations

The Age in Swimming of Champions in World Championships (1994⁻2013) and Olympic Games (1992⁻2012): A Cross-Sectional Data Analysis

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

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References

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