Analysis of relative age effect in muscular strength of adolescent swimmers

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of relative age in anthropometric measurements, muscular strength of adolescent swimmers. Material and Methods: The study sample was composed of 40 volunteers adolescent well-trained swimmers. Participants were grouped as swimmers born in the first quarter (January, February and March) and in the last quarter (October, November and December) of the same year. Anthropometric measurements were taken from each participant, and body mass index of participants were calculated. To determine performance parameters, handgrip, back and leg strength tests were performed on participants. The level of statistical significance was set at p < .05. Results: Statistical analysis showed that there were statistically significant differences in the body height and BMI ( p < .05 ), but body weight differences were not statistically significant between swimmers who are born first and last quarter of the same year ( p > .05 ). There were significant differences in the means of absolute leg and handgrip strength between relative age groups. There were statistically significant differences in the means of relative back, leg and handgrip strength between groups ( p < .05 ). All mean relative strength values of participants significantly differed in favour of the group born in the first quarter of the year. Conclusion: As a result of this study, it is determined that relative age has an effect on the measured anthropometric and muscular strength parameters of adolescent well-trained swimmers. The findings of this study revealed that relative age is an important factor to be considered in swimming performance in adolescent swimmers.

Prevalence and Impact of the Relative Age Effect on Competition Performance in Swimming: A Systematic Review

“…The greater presence of athletes born in Q1 compared with the rest of the quartiles (see Table 1) was in line with previous data in individual sport disciplines [16,53] and team sports [17], although a great variability of results was observed between studies. Variation in birthdate within the same age group is a key factor that must be taken into account as athletes of the same category may be trained in the same group but with very different stages of development between them [54]. Elite adolescent swimmers who are born in the first quarter of the year are more likely to present greater height or body mass index (BMI) than their counterparts [54], and consequently, they could perform better in swimming competitions.…”

“…Variation in birthdate within the same age group is a key factor that must be taken into account as athletes of the same category may be trained in the same group but with very different stages of development between them [54]. Elite adolescent swimmers who are born in the first quarter of the year are more likely to present greater height or body mass index (BMI) than their counterparts [54], and consequently, they could perform better in swimming competitions. Indeed, swimmers who reach the elite level usually present some physical characteristics, such as greater development in body height and ecto-mesomorphic development [55].…”