121 Tracking talented swimmers during the junior-to-senior transition 6 Results Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics, including effect sizes, of male and female swimmers at late junior age (males aged 17; females aged 16) according to their performance level at early senior age. High-performing senior swimmers outscored lower-performing seniors on rST at early senior age (p < 0.05; very large effect sizes), confirming a correct definition of performance level groups in both males and females. No significant differences between groups on age and weekly swim-, strength-, and mobility training hours were found (p > 0.05). High-performing senior males scored significantly higher on rSprint (p <0.001), and lower on rStart (p <0.05), rTurn (p <0.001) and rST (p <0.01) at age 17 compared to lowerperforming peers. The effect sizes in these four variables were very large. Although not statistically significant, high-performing senior males had higher scores on height (small to medium effect sizes) and rLBP (medium to large effect sizes) at age 17 compared to lower-performing males. Similar scores between groups were found on rSI (no effect). High-performing senior females scored significantly higher on rLBP (p <0.05), rSprint and rSI (p <0.05), and lower on rST (p <0.05) at age 16 compared to lower-performing peers. The effect sizes in these four variables were very large. Although not statistically significant, high-performing senior females had higher scores on height (medium to large effect sizes) and lower scores on rTurn (large effect sizes) at age 16 compared to lowerperforming peers. Similar scores between groups were found on rStart (no effect). Table 2 shows the cross-tabulation analyses of the relationship between performance level group at early senior and late junior age of male and female swimmers. At early senior age (18-19 years), six of the twelve male swimmers (50%) were classified in the high-level performance group. All six high-performing male seniors (100%) were also categorized as high-performing juniors (16-17 years), whereas four out of the ten (40%) high-performing male juniors switched to the lower-level performance group at early senior age. For females, ten of the seventeen swimmers (59%) were classified in the high-level performance group at early senior age (17-18 years). All ten high-performing female seniors (100%) were also categorized as high-performing juniors (15-16 years), whereas three out of the thirteen high-performing junior females (23%) switched to the lower-level performance group at early senior age.
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