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. 2021 Oct 29;18(21):11369.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111369.

Origin of the Fastest 5 km, 10 km and 25 km Open-Water Swimmers-An Analysis from 20 Years and 9819 Swimmers

Aldo Seffrin  1 , Beat Knechtle  2   3 , Rodrigo Luiz Vancini  4 , Douglas de Assis Teles Santos  5 , Claudio Andre Barbosa de Lira  6 , Lee Hill  7 , Thomas Rosemann  3 , Marilia Santos Andrade  1
Affiliations

Origin of the Fastest 5 km, 10 km and 25 km Open-Water Swimmers-An Analysis from 20 Years and 9819 Swimmers

Aldo Seffrin et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

In elite pool swimmers competing at world class level, mainly athletes from the United States of America and Australia are dominating. Little is known, however, for the nationality of dominating swimmers in elite open-water long-distance swimming races such as the official FINA races over 5 km, 10 km and 25 km-held since 2000. The aim of this study was to investigate the participation and performance trends by nationality of these elite open-water swimmers. Race results from all female and male swimmers competing in 5 km, 10 km and 25 km FINA races between 2000 and 2020 were analyzed. A total of 9819 swimmers competed between 2000 and 2020 in these races. The five countries that figure most times among the top ten in 5 km, 10 km and 25 km races over the years were Italy, Germany, Russia, Brazil and the Netherlands. In 10 km races, considering the all the athletes from each country, male athletes from Germany, Italy, and France presented faster race times than the other countries. In 10 km, female athletes presented no significant difference among the countries. In 5 and 25 km races, there were no differences between countries, for male and female athletes. Moreover, comparing only the 10 best results (top 10) from each country, there were no differences between countries in 5 km, 10 km and 25 km, for male and female athletes. Men were faster than women for all three distances. In summary, male swimmers from Europe (i.e., Germany, Italy, France) are dominating the 10 km FINA races. In the 5 km and 25 km FINA races, there is no dominating nationality, but among the top five countries in the top 10 over the years, three are European countries.

Keywords: endurance; nationality; origin; water sport.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean race times and significant differences among nationalities, regarding the entire sample, in the female and male 5, 10 and 25 km events. * p < 0.005.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean values, of entire sample results, for each race over the years for both sexes in 5, 10 and 25 km events.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Mean race times for each nationality, regarding the top 10 sample, in the female and male 5, 10 and 25 km events.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mean values, of top 10 sample results, for each race over the years for both sexes in 5, 10 and 25 km events.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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