Age features of the physique of artistic swimmers

Abstract

Material and methods. The sample of 50 people consisted of female athletes of three age groups: junior (9-10 years old), senior (14-15 years old) and the Russian national team (over 18 years old). In this cross-sectional study, we used total body dimensions (according to V.V. Bunak), body mass components (ac-cording to J. Matiegka’s formulas and bioimpedance method), body proportions (according to P.N. Bashkirov’s method), body shape (by somatoscopy), somatotype (by the Heath-Carter and Shtefko-Ostrovsky) and biological age (by dental and sexual maturity). Results. In terms of physical development, artistic swimmers (girls) do not differ significantly from their peers who do not go in for sports. The body height of the national team athletes is higher than the average values for their gender, and the body weight is lower. Under the influence of training loads in young artistic swimmers, there is a slight decrease in the fat component and an increase in the muscle one. Russian elite artistic swimmers have a lower level of development of adipositythan athletes of the national teams of Ko-rea and Spain. The muscular component of the Russian artistic swimmers may indicate overwork. The analy-sis of the variability of body proportions of artistic swimmers of different age groups testifies to the target-ed selection to the national team in the terms of longitudinal body dimensions. At the present stage of development of artistic swimming, the selection of retardant athletes is taking place. It was revealed that somatotypes with significant mesomorphism prevail in younger and older age groups, while the athletes of the national team belong to the ectomorphic body type with various variations of two other components of the somatotype. Conclusion. The study of morphological indicators made it possible to form an idea of the importance of the somatotype and body proportions for artistic swimming, which, in the combination with other necessary qualities, will increase the efficiency of selection and control of the training process.