The relative age effect in German 11- to 18-year-old male and female swimmers

Abstract

Relatively older athletes have a greater probability of being selected and subsequently exposed to a higher level of coaching, training and other talent-promoting factors. Grouping by chronological age is, therefore, considered to be one of the weaknesses in talent identification. A large number of studies have confirmed the prevalence of the relative age effect (RAE) across various sports, including swimming. This investigation aims to quantify the prevalence, magnitude and transient pattern of the RAE according to sex and events across German swimmers. The RAE was examined top-100 ranked swimmers (2004–2013) according to birth month, of three cohorts (born 1993–1995; n = 3630) for the age groups 11–18. The Χ2 tests and Cramer’s V estimated effect sizes; odd’s ratios and confidence intervals calculated relative discrepancies between the quartiles. The RAE is significantly present over all events for female swimmers until 13–15 and for males until 16–18 years of age. Effect sizes were moderate until 12/13 years of age for females and 14/15 years of age for males. No inverted effects were visible. Compared to previous reports on Australian as well as Portuguese cohorts, the RAE was prevalent over a longer time period. Therefore, the impact of negative outcomes from RAE appears to be greater among German age group swimmers.

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

“…In the present study, the prevalence of the RAE seemed to decline with age, and there was a clear effect between the ages of 12 and 14 years in both male and female swimmers [26,[50][51][52]. After that, the influence of the RAE seemed to fade away, especially around the ages of 17-18 years, before completely disappearing in elite competition [48].…”

“…Of the six studies analysed, four studies included a mixed sample in terms of gender [47][48][49][50], while the other two were composed of only men [51] or women [52]. All the studies were focused on formative categories (11-18 years) and national competitions, except the one carried out by Ferreira et al [48], which was found to be made up of a senior sample that participated in an international competition (i.e., Olympic Games).…”

“…The six included studies used the annual competition cycle as the sample grouping method, categorising swimmers into birth quartiles (Q1-Q4). Four of the six studies focused on analysing more than one style [47][48][49][50], while two of them did so on a single style, either breaststroke [52] or front crawl [51]. Finally, competition performance in four studies was expressed as competition times or FINA points [47,[50][51][52], while only one of them did so through medals [48], and another one through selection and reselection processes [49].…”

“…Four of the six studies focused on analysing more than one style [47][48][49][50], while two of them did so on a single style, either breaststroke [52] or front crawl [51]. Finally, competition performance in four studies was expressed as competition times or FINA points [47,[50][51][52], while only one of them did so through medals [48], and another one through selection and reselection processes [49]. A more comprehensive description of the samples and swimmers included in these studies in this systematic review can be found in Tables 1 and 2.…”

Efecto de la edad relativa en la natación española

“…Con relación a la natación, deporte objeto de estudio en esta investigación, el contexto cultural se ha mostrado como moderador del RAE, siendo los resultados heterogéneos en función del país de estudio, tanto en el grado, periodo de mayor incidencia y persistencia en el tiempo (Staub, Stallman & Vogt, 2020). Con relación a las demandas propias de la natación, el RAE podría verse moderado por las demandas propias de cada estilo y la distancia de la prueba (Silva et al, 2007;Costa, Marques, Louro, Ferreira & Marinho, 2013;Staub et al, 2020). Hasta hace muy pocos años, la natación no ha tenido gran consideración en la investigación del RAE (Smith, Weir, Till, Romann & Cobley, 2018), no conociéndose estudios en el contexto español.…”