Background The present study investigated longitudinally the performance development of a multigenerational sample of competitive swimmers. The aim of the study was to provide unique insight into the junior toward senior performance development of those few who reached top‐elite level. Season Best Times (SBT) of 100 m freestyle performance of international swimmers, (1.305 males, aged 12‐26 and 1.841 females, aged 12‐24) competing in at least five seasons between 1993 and 2018, were corrected for the prevailing world record (WR). Swim performance was defined as a relative measure: relative Season Best Time=(SBT/WR) × 100. Based on rSBT, four performance groups were defined: top‐elite, elite, sub‐elite, and high‐competitive. Results Univariate analyses of variance showed that male top‐elite swimmers outperformed high‐competitive swimmers from the age of 12, sub‐elite swimmers from the age of 14 and elite swimmers from the age of 18 while female top‐elite swimmers outperformed high‐competitive and sub‐elite swimmers from the age of 12 and elite swimmers from the age of 14 (P < .05). Frequency analysis showed that male top‐elite swimmers for the first time achieved top‐elite level between the 17 and 24 years old (mean age of 21) while female top‐elite swimmers started to perform at top‐elite level between the 14 and 24 years old (mean age of 18). Conclusion Male and female top‐elite swimmers are characterized by a high‐performance level from 12 years on and progressively outperform swimmers from similar age. However, this goes together with a large variety in the individual pathways toward top‐elite level within and between sexes.

No abstract