166 Chapter 7 examine potential interactions between variables which are undoubtedly at play (Barbosa et al., 2010; Abbott et al., 2021b). Furthermore, given the dynamic nature of performance development, the relative contribution of underlying performance characteristics may vary among different specializations in our sample and change over time (Vaeyens et al., 2008; Morais et al.,2015). For example, lower body power (measured as jump height), is considered to be more critical for swimmers oriented towards sprinting (Keiner et al., 2021). In terms of timing, it may emerge as a more distinguishing factor in later stages of development, particularly after puberty, as training programs tend to place a greater emphasis on the development of strength and power (KNZB, 2023). Therefore, it is important to highlight that the present study captures merely a glimpse of the long and complex developmental pathway towards swimming expertise, leaving a lot of opportunities for future research to expand upon our findings. Perspective The present study enhances our understanding of advancement towards elite level swimming performance. Specifically, it underscores the significant role of levels and progression of maximal swimming velocity, SI, and season best performances throughout puberty in males aged 13-15 and females aged 12-14. In addition, height and CMJ emerged as noteworthy characteristics in females. Coaches could focus on developing these factors and monitor their swimmers’ progression towards the elite level in relation to the developmental patterns of high-performing late juniors. However, coaches should consider these findings as a starting point for further development rather than an endpoint, and take inter-individual differences in maturation and training into account when evaluating swimmers’ current performance and future potential. Moreover, our findings show that differences between high- and lower-performing juniors manifest at least at early junior age (males aged 13; females aged 12) and emphasize the difficulty of closing that gap thereafter. Therefore, it would be interesting to further investigate swimmers’ development from the start of their career. Furthermore, given that high-performing late juniors still have a long road to go before reaching the top, it is recommended to continue monitoring swimmers after puberty. In both cases, gaining insight into swimmers’ training programs, including factors such as the number of sessions, training hours and meters per week, the employed training methods (Nugent et al., 2017), and indicators of the quality of training (Post et al., 2022) would be highly valuable. This is essential to not only further unravel but also ensure sustained progression towards elite level swimming performance.
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