Based on our empirical research, through the analysis of the birthdates of young competitive swimmers, the present paper aims to examine the system of talent selection and management in Hungarian competitive swimming complemented with a new element. The research population consisted of the registered junior competitive swimmers participating in the new talent management program of the Hungarian Swimming Association (N=235; average age: 11.44) due to the decision of the Coaches’ Committee. Our research was based on the analysis of documents and databases. Besides the descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and the Kruskal-Wallis test were applied. The results show that swimmers born in the first three months of the year are still more likely to be recruited in the program than their relatively younger counterparts. Furthermore, as a potential effect of the new program, the dominance of the first quarter of the year is also characteristic among those eligible for the next level of talent management. The new selection system of Hungarian swimmers is still highly sensitive to the relative age. Thus, it is recommended to further investigate the functioning of the new talent management program in terms of selection and success.

In 2017, the 19th World Swimming Championship will be organized in Hungary. Up to now, many people have already been working with swimmers to achieve good results. However, in the next period they must work even harder to ensure that the national swimmers of a country as small as Hungary can achieve the outstanding results of their predecessors. Since high-level competitions in swimming have become more intense, innovations including scientific studies are needed during preparation for the event. The purpose of this paper is to present the major results of an independent study carried out by the authors about the relative age of the best Hungarian swimmers with the aim of contributing to their preparation. The research population consisted of selected age groups of swimmers registered by the Hungarian Swimming Association (N=400). The method for data collection was an analysis of documents. To evaluate the data, the Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. The results are presented according to the period of the competitor’s date of birth, gender, and age group. The results confirm only partly the hypothesis that people born in the first quarters of the year play a dominant role in Hungarian national swimming teams. In the conclusion, the authors recommend further research on relative age in swimming and in other sports.

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It is widely known that motivation plays a critical role in getting athletes to achieve their full potential. However, little is known with regards to motivation as a function of relative age in junior competitive swimmers. The aim of the present research was to investigate associations between motivation, perceived motivational climate, and relative age among junior competitive swimmers (N = 235; 117 females; Mean age = 11.44, SD = 0.57 years). Although we expected relatively younger athletes to present lower motivation than their older peers, findings showed that swimmers in our study had similar motivation orientation, irrespective of their birth period (i.e., first, second, third, fourth quarter). Findings suggest professionals should aim to build intrinsic motivation regardless of birth period, as the shaping of a stabilized intrinsic motivation at junior age can increase the chances of success for the most talented swimmers.

The paper investigates the connection of the concept of irony to that of tragedy and comedy. The connections are surveyed through three different theories of irony (Muecke, de Man, Rorty). I argue that Muecke’s and de Man’s concepts of irony are related to the notion of tragedy, while Rorty’s concept of irony can be related to the notion of comedy instead. The discussion includes the description of the ironic person and of the social dimensions of irony.