Progression of Athletic Performance in Age-Group Swimmers in the Past 50 Years

Abstract

The progression or evolution of athletic performance in age-group swimmers was studied by analyzing top youth swimmers’ times recorded in the past 50 years. In both boys and girls, the largest improvements were observed from 1960s to 1970s. Thereafter, swimming performance continued to improve although the magnitude of improvements became progressively smaller. Relative improvements in youth swimming performance time were not different from those in the Olympic trial times achieved by elite adult swimmers. Overall, the relative improvements of swimming performance over the years were not different between boys and girls. These results suggest that athletic performance achieved by youth swimmers has undergone similar degree of improvements to elite adult swimmers in the past 50 years.