Performance Trends in Master Butterfly Swimmers Competing in the FINA World Championships

Knechtle, Beat; Nikolaidis, Pantelis Theodoros; Rosemann, Thomas; Rüst, Christoph Alexander

doi:10.1515/hukin-2017-0061

Cited by 15 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…On the other hand, when compared with swimming, women were not slower compared to men in age groups 80–84 to 85–89 years when trends in participation, performance, and sex difference in performance of 65,584 freestyle master swimmers from 25–29 to 85–89 years competing in FINA World Masters Championships between 1986 and 2014 were investigated (Knechtle et al, 2016a ). The same trends could also be observed for open-water freestyle swimming (Knechtle et al, 2017a ) and other pool swimming disciplines such as breaststroke (Knechtle et al, 2016b ), butterfly (Knechtle et al, 2017b ), backstroke (Unterweger et al, 2016 ), and individual medley (Nikolaidis and Knechtle, 2018c ). An explanation of this variation by exercise mode (i.e., running vs. swimming) might be that the physiological sex differences (for example, more subcutaneous fat in women) that limit women's performance more in weight-bearing exercise than non-weight bearing exercise, and more balanced participation levels of both sexes in elite swimming than marathon running (Senefeld et al, 2016 ; Millard-Stafford et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

World Single Age Records in Running From 5 km to Marathon

Knechtle

Nikolaidis²,

Gangi

2018

Front. Psychol.

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This study investigated the relationship between race times and age, in 1-year intervals, by using the world single age records, from 5 km to marathon running (i. e., 5 km, 4 miles, 8, 10, 12, 15 km, 10 miles, 20 km, half-marathon, 25 km, 30 km, and marathon). For each race, a regression model was fitted. Effects of sex, alone and in interaction with age, and the effect of country of origin on performance were examined in a multi-variable model. The relationship between age and race time was modeled through a 4th order-polynomial function. Women achieved their best half-marathon and marathon race time, respectively, 1 year and 3 years earlier in life than men. On the contrary, in the other races, the best women performances were achieved later in life than men (i.e., 4 miles and 30 km: 2 years later, 8 km: 3 years later, 15–20–25 km: 1 year later, 10 miles: 4 years) or at the same age (i.e., 5, 10, 12 km). Moreover, age of peak performance did not change monotonically with the distance of race. For all races, except 12 km, sex differences had an absolute maximum at old ages and a relative maximum near the age of peak performance. From 8 km onward, estimated sex differences were increasing with increasing race distance. Regarding country, runners from Canada were slower than runners from the United States of America in 5 km by 00:10:05 h:min:s (p < 0.001) and in half-marathon by 00:18:43 h:min:s (p < 0.01). On the contrary, in marathon, they were 00:18:43 h:min faster (p < 0.05). Moreover, in 10 miles, runners from Great Britain were 00:02:53 h:min:s faster (p < 0.05) than runners from the United States of America. In summary, differences seem to exist in the age of peak performance between women and men and for nearly all distances sex differences showed an absolute maximum at old ages and relative maximum near the age of peak performance. Thus, these findings highlight the need for sex-specific training programs, especially near the age of peak performance and for elder runners.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 58%

World Single Age Records in Running From 5 km to Marathon

Knechtle

Nikolaidis²,

Gangi

2018

Front. Psychol.

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“…Furthermore, the gender gap was able to be closed in several time-limited ultra-marathons over the past 40 years, such as 6, 72, 144, and 24 h races [11]. Several studies in swimming demonstrated that the gender gap could be closed in ultra-endurance sports with increasing age [15,16]. In ultra-cycling, however, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding whether sex differences can be reduced with increasing age [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the Performance Gap between Women and Men be Reduced in Ultra-Cycling?

Baumgartner

Sousa

Nikolaidis³

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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This study examined a large dataset of ultra-cycling race results to investigate the sex difference in ultra-cycling performance (100 to 500 miles) according to age and race distance. Data from the time period 1996-2018 were obtained from online available database of the ultra-cycling marathon association (UMCA), including distance-limited ultra-cycling races (100, 200, 400, and 500 miles). A total of 12,716 race results were analyzed to compare the performance between men and women by calendar year, age group (18-34, 35-44, 45-59, and 60+ years), and race distance. Men were faster than women in 100 and 200 mile races, but no sex differences were identified for the 400 and 500 mile races. The performance ratio (average cycling speed men /average cycling speed women ) was smaller in the 200 mile races compared to the 100 mile races and remained stable in the 400 and 500 mile races. In all race distances, the difference in average cycling speed between women and men decreased with increasing age. The gender gap in performance was closed in several distance-limited ultra-cycling races, such as the 400 and 500 mile races.

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“…In 100 m butterfly, women decreased the gap to men in age groups 35-39 to 55-59 years. In 200 m, the sex difference was reduced in age groups 30-34 to 40-44 years (Knechtle, et al, 2017b). In breaststroke swimming, men were not faster than women age groups 90-94 to 95-99 years.…”

Section: Sex Difference In the Age-related Performance Declinementioning

confidence: 85%

“…However, also master swimmers competing at the FINA World Championships in pool-swimming in freestyle (Knechtle, Nikolaidis, Konig, Rosemann, & Rüst, 2016), in backstroke (Unterweger, et al, 2016), in butterfly (Knechtle, Nikolaidis, Rosemann, & Rüst, 2017b), in breaststroke , in individual medley and in 3000 m open-water swimming (Knechtle, et al, 2017a) improved their performances. Although we know that endurance performance decreases with increasing age, the events' distance might be of importance.…”

Section: Performance In Master Athletesmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Studies investigated the sex difference in performance in master swimmers competing at the FINA World Championships in pool swimming in freestyle (Knechtle, Nikolaidis, Konig et al, 2016), backstroke (Unterweger, et al, 2016), butterfly (Knechtle et al, 2017b), breaststroke , individual medley and in 3000 m openwater swimming (Knechtle, et al, 2017a). When age groups 25-29 to 90-94 years competing at the FINA World Masters Championships between 1986 and 2014 were analyzed, in older age groups, women were able to achieve a similar performance to men.…”

Section: Sex Difference In the Age-related Performance Declinementioning

confidence: 99%

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The age-related changes and sex difference in master swimming performance

Knechtle

Barbosa

Nikolaïdis

2019

Mov Sport Sci/Sci Mot

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Master athletes have been widely used to examine the age-induced decline of human performance. However, so far very limited reviews are available consolidating the age-related differences in master swimming performance. The aim of the present review was to summarize existing knowledge about the age-related changes in three modalities of swimming performance (i.e., pool-swimming, open-water swimming and swim split in triathlons of different distances). In addition, the paradigm of freestyle swimming records from 50 to 1500 m was used to examine age-related differences and sex difference in performance for age groups 25–29 to 100–104 years. For this example of master freestyle swimmers, the sex difference was smaller in the longer events and increased significantly after the age of ∼70 years. In summary, master athletes competing in swimming as single discipline (i.e., pool-swimming and open-water) and in triathlon (i.e., swim split as first discipline) improved their performances across calendar years. The age-related performance decline in swimming seems to be specific to the discipline, the sex and the length of the swimming event.

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Performance Trends in Master Butterfly Swimmers Competing in the FINA World Championships

Cited by 15 publications

References 36 publications

World Single Age Records in Running From 5 km to Marathon

World Single Age Records in Running From 5 km to Marathon

Can the Performance Gap between Women and Men be Reduced in Ultra-Cycling?

The age-related changes and sex difference in master swimming performance

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