Competition-Based Success Factors During the Talent Pathway of Elite Male Swimmers

Bibliographic Data

ID4615018
AuthorsDennis-Peter Born (0000-0002-1058-4367), Ishbel Lomax, Stephan Horvath (0000-0002-4891-4392), Elena Meisser, Philipp Seidenschwarz, David Burkhardt, Michael Romann (0000-0003-4139-2955)
Year2020
Volume2
Pages589938-589938
Publication date2020-11-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Sports and Active Living (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2624-9367 • E-ISSN: 2624-9367
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fspor.2020.589938
PMID33345166
OpenAlexW3106996147
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited41

Marginal differences in race results between top swimmers have evoked the interest in competition-based success factors of long-term athlete development. To identify novel factors for the multi-dimensional model of talent development, the aim of the study was to investigate annual variation in competition performance (ACV), number of races per year, and age. Therefore, 45,398 race results of all male participants (n = 353) competing in individual events, i.e., butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley, at the 2018 European Long-Course Swimming Championships (2018EC) were analyzed retrospectively for all 10 years prior to the championships with Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis. Higher ranked swimmers at the 2018EC showed significant medium correlations with a greater number of races per year and small but significant correlations with higher ACV in 10 and nine consecutive years, respectively, prior to the championships. Additionally, better swimmers were older than their lower ranked peers (r = −0.21, p < 0.001). Regression model explained a significant proportion of 2018EC ranking for 50 m (47%), 100 m (45%), 200 m (31%), and 400 m races (29%) but not for 800 and 1,500 m races with number of races having the largest effect followed by age and ACV. In conclusion, higher performance variation with results off the personal best in some races did not impair success at the season's main event and young competitors at international championships may benefit from success chances that increase with age. The higher number of races swum per year throughout the career of higher ranked swimmers may have provided learning opportunities and specific adaptations. Future studies should quantify these success factors in a multi-dimensional talent development model

Biology · Competition (biology · Elite · Race (biology · Psychology · Sport Psychology and Performance · Sports injuries and prevention · Sports Performance and Training · Demography · Ecology

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