Relative age effect presence among swimmers within Youth Olympic Games

Abstract

Purpose: Swimming is one of the oldest activities known to man. In the context of sports performance, swimmers became a subject of admiration due to their superior technique and untouchable records. However, such a tendency toward the absolute results increases the danger of Relative Age effect (RAE) occurrence within swimming. Methods: Therefore, the authors of this research aimed to enlighten the possible existence of RAE in swimming during the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2018. Data were retrieved through the web source, and afterward analyzed through the Chisquare test. Results: Results revealed there is an unequal distribution of four generations within the same competition age (youth) category The great value of the Chi-square test (χ2= 289.869; P= .000) indicates the (enormous) magnitude of the effect occurring within the analyzed competition. The youngest 2003 generation was present at less than 10% (7.15%) while the oldest one (2000) represents almost half (42.55%) of the overall sample. Conclusions: Managers of competitive sports events should pay attention to this issue because there is up to four years of difference between some competitors, and that system may include both pre-pubertal and post-pubertal competitors in the same age category. Youth categories, especially cadets in early pubertal stages are being affected. The authors suggest that the separation of this youth category into more than one would be of much help for athletes and sports organizations to ensure more fair competition system. Keywords: talent identification, youth Olympics, RAE, swimming, YOG.