Table 1 Performances at peak age in freestyle, breaststroke, individual medley, backstroke, and butterfly were correlated with number of different swimming strokes and race distances used at competitions during the various age categories
Performance at peak age | Age groups [years] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
10–14 | 15–17 | 18–20 | 21–26 | |
Females | ||||
Number of different swimming strokes (technical variety) | ||||
Freestyle | − 0.15*** | − 0.22*** | − 0.22*** | − 0.24*** |
Breaststroke | − 0.04 | − 0.14* | − 0.21*** | − 0.20*** |
Individual Medley | − 0.05 | − 0.12*** | − 0.12*** | − 0.16*** |
Backstroke | − 0.11* | − 0.19*** | − 0.23*** | − 0.25*** |
Butterfly | − 0.19*** | − 0.27*** | − 0.30*** | − 0.24*** |
Number of different race distances (physiological variety) | ||||
Freestyle | 0.07 | 0.06 | 0.09** | 0.07* |
Breaststroke | 0.12 | − 0.03 | − 0.03 | − 0.05 |
Individual Medley | 0.07 | − 0.05 | − 0.05 | − 0.07* |
Backstroke | 0.09* | − 0.08 | − 0.17*** | − 0.16*** |
Butterfly | − 0.06 | − 0.23*** | − 0.22*** | − 0.20*** |
Males | ||||
Number of different swimming strokes (technical variety) | ||||
Freestyle | 0.02 | − 0.12*** | − 0.16*** | − 0.16*** |
Breaststroke | 0.05 | − 0.25*** | − 0.19*** | − 0.28*** |
Individual Medley | 0.05 | − 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.05 |
Backstroke | 0.03 | − 0.14* | − 0.08 | − 0.02 |
Butterfly | 0.04 | − 0.16** | − 0.14* | − 0.22*** |
Number of different race distances (physiological variety) | ||||
Freestyle | 0.14*** | 0.10** | 0.17*** | 0.15*** |
Breaststroke | 0.11 | − 0.09 | − 0.03 | − 0.05 |
Individual Medley | 0.17** | 0.09* | 0.16*** | 0.17*** |
Backstroke | 0.08 | − 0.03 | 0.00 | 0.08 |
Butterfly | 0.07 | − 0.08 | − 0.05 | − 0.15** |